The man, in his forties, pretended to be a dermatologist in his brother’s office where he performed laser hair removal. If he disputes the facts and assures that the patients were consenting, a call for witnesses made it possible to identify twelve alleged victims. He will appear next year before the criminal court of Doubs.
A man in his 40s who posed as a dermatologist in his brother’s office in Besançon is suspected of raping five patients and sexually assaulting seven others, AFP learned on Friday at the prosecutor’s office. The man, who performed laser hair removal in his brother’s dermatology practice, was initially indicted in November 2021 for rape and sexual assault, facts which he categorically contested.
Holder of a degree in aesthetic medicine
The suspect’s brother, meanwhile, a real dermatologist, was briefly taken into custody at the start of the investigation, before being quickly and completely exonerated. Since then, the file has grown, thanks in particular to a call for witnesses which has made it possible to identify ten new alleged victims, bringing their number to twelve in total. According to the regional daily The Republican East, the suspect, in his forties, assures us that the patients were all consenting. He presented himself to them as a dermatologist when he only held a degree in aesthetic medicine, a course that this former graphic designer and carpenter had not completed when he began to practice.
The 40-year-old, who is free under judicial supervision with a ban on practicing, should appear next year before the criminal court of Doubs, an experimental system made up of professional magistrates and responsible for judging crimes punishable between 15 and 20 years’ imprisonment, according to the public prosecutor of Besançon, Etienne Manteaux. These criminal courts are currently being tested in fifteen departments, of which the Doubs is not part, but they “will be generalized” on January 1, 2023 to all of France”, recalled Mr. Manteaux.