Louisiana Legislature approves surgical castration for child sex offenders

Louisiana lawmakers approved a bill that will allow state judges to order surgical castration for people convicted of sex crimes against children. If Republican Governor Jeff Landry signs it into law, the state would be the first to implement such a measure.

The measure would be applicable to those convicted of certain aggravated sexual crimes, including rape, incest and sexual abuse against a child under 13 years of age.

The bill detailed that the court's order sentencing an offender to surgical castration "shall be contingent upon a determination by a court appointed medical expert that the offender is an appropriate candidate for surgery. Notwithstanding Paragraph of this Subsection, this determination shall be made not later than sixty days from the imposition of sentence,"

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In addition, The bill stated that "if an offender fails to appear as required by court order for purposes of the procedure, or refuses to allow the procedure, then the offender shall be charged with a violation of the provisions of this Section. Upon conviction, the offender shall be imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for not less than three years nor more than five years without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence."

'We're talking about babies who are being violated by somebody'

The votes against the project were mainly Democrats despite the fact that the initiative was authored by Democrat Regina Barrow. Louisiana has already allowed judges to order that those convicted of such crimes receive chemical castration for more than 16 years, although it is a measure that is issued infrequently.

Chemical castration uses medications that block testosterone production to suppress sexual desire, while surgical castration is an irreversible procedure that consists of removing the genital organs physically.

Likewise, the National Conference of State Legislatures told the AP that it is not aware of any state that allows judges to impose surgical castration, even though several states such as California, Florida and Texas have laws that allow such practices, and in some of them criminals can opt for the surgical procedure if they prefer.

In that sense, Regina Barrow maintained that "We are talking about babies who are being violated by somebody. That is inexcusable."