A French surgeon who sexually abused hundreds of patients over two decades, most of them minors, said Monday he was asking for no "leniency" as his three-month trial nears a verdict.

Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, has admitted sexually assaulting or raping 299 patients -- 256 of them under 15 -- in hospitals in western France between 1989 and 2014, many while they were under anaesthesia or waking up after operations.

The prosecution on Friday requested the maximum 20-year sentence for the former surgeon and also made the rare demand that he should be held in a centre for treatment and supervision even after any release.

"I am not asking the court for leniency," Le Scouarnec said in his closing statement. "Simply grant me the right to become a better person," he added.

The verdict from the court in Vannes in the western Brittany region is expected on Wednesday.

"You were the devil and he sometimes is dressed in a white coat," prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger told Le Scouarnec on Friday, adding that an additional trial could be required to........

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