The numbers involved in France’s largest child abuse trial are staggering: 299 alleged victims, sexually abused in nine hospitals over 25 years - all by one doctor, prosecutors say.

A former surgeon is set to stand trial in France on Monday for the alleged rape or sexual abuse of 299 victims, most of them children who were his patients, in what investigators and his own notebooks describe as a pattern of violence spanning over three decades.

A former surgeon accused of raping or sexually assaulting hundreds of young patients, some while they were under anaesthetic, went on trial on Monday in France's largest ever child sexual abuse case.

Amélie Lévêque remembers the moment when she finally understood the unexplained bouts of depression and other disorders that had tormented her for more than two decades.

France is preparing for its largest-ever child abuse trial as a former surgeon stands accused of sexually assaulting 299 children.

France is about to hold its largest-ever child sex abuse trial. While just one man is in the dock — a former surgeon accused of raping or sexual abusing 299 people, mostly child patients — activists hope the trial empowers other victims and helps expose other abusers long protected by societal taboos.