They sentenced a midwife for the rape of 11 pregnant women in France

A midwife was sentenced to 12 years in prison in France for 11 rapes and a sexual assault committed between 2013 and 2016, on pregnant women or women suffering from postpartum depression.

The defendant, Lionel Charvin, “did not hesitate to take advantage of vulnerable women, pregnant or suffering from postpartum depression”, denounced the prosecutor Albert Cantinol, who asked for the maximum sentence for this type of offense, that is 20 years of prison, according to the AFP agency.

Charvin, 49, was found guilty of sexual assault on the pretext that it was medical gestures during the preparation for childbirth or postpartum follow-up.

Several patients said they were “paralyzed” during the rapes and did not dare to say anything at the start but suffered long-term psychological consequences.

All said they felt they had betrayed their “trust” in a moment of vulnerability.

“I have heard the suffering of the patients and I am sorry. I have some responsibility for this suffering but at no time was it intentional on my part. I loved these patients,” said the accused at trial.

A psychiatrist described him as “an opportunistic aggressor who acts by deflecting their trust in him.”