Crimes committed over twenty years. The dentist Stéphane Schoener was sentenced on Friday to 15 years of criminal imprisonment by the Assize Court of Loiret, in Orleans, for three rapes and more than twenty sexual assaults committed during acupuncture sessions in his office.
The jurors also pronounced a permanent ban on practicing the profession of dental surgeon and as an acupuncturist, as well as the seizure of the dental office, located in Chalette-sur-Loing (Loiret). The court went further than the 14 years of imprisonment required by Advocate General Luc Belan.
Stéphane Schoener, aged 62, was found guilty of having taken advantage, for more than 20 years, of acupuncture sessions, used in particular as an alternative method to soothe patients stressed by dental care, to commit sexual assaults which could go as far as rape by digital penetration. Some of the sessions were filmed using a spy camera.
A “tsunami of complainants”
“For rapes, you have to say no! “, had however launched one of the two defense lawyers, Me Balthazar Lévy, considering that the factual elements and the errors pointed out in the testimonies of the complainants did not make it possible to condemn his client.
“We consider that you can be sentenced for sexual assault, not for rape,” insisted his colleague Chirine Heydari-Malayeri.
Faced with this “tsunami of plaintiffs”, all aged 16 to 24 at the time of the facts, “do not listen to hatred, do not take a decision of despair”, she had asked the court, claiming without success ” a fair sentence of eight years”.
Partial or evasive confessions
During the first days of the trial which began on March 27, the dentist, in pre-trial detention since the spring of 2019, had opened the door to a partial confession. Faced with his victims, the sexagenarian, however, remained evasive about his responsibilities.
In the end, this “well-established notable”, hunter and member of a local Masonic lodge as described by the general counsel, was therefore sentenced for three rapes, including one on a minor over 15 years old. He was also found guilty of around twenty sexual assaults, with the aggravating circumstances that the facts were committed by a person abusing the authority conferred on him by his position.
Dr Schoener, on the other hand, was acquitted of three sexual assaults, as well as acts of torture and acts of barbarism.