Britt Jones
Warning: This article contains discussion of child sexual abuse which some readers may find distressing
A convicted sex offender has reportedly been sentenced to a physical and chemical castration after attempting to rape a minor.
Thomas Allen McCartney was apprehended in Louisiana in 2023 after being caught ‘engaging in sexual contact’ with a young girl. He accepted a plea deal when faced with an attempted first-degree rape charge.
The man, who had tried to rape a seven-year-old girl, pleaded guilty to the attempt of trying to rape a person under the age of 13, and soon, his historic crimes against children were revealed.
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Previously, he had been convicted of aggravated rape in 2011, and KPLC reported he was arrested in 2006 and 2010 on sexual abuse charges against children.
His plea deal means that he will be castrated, and will also have to serve 40 years in prison.
The district attorney for Vernon Parish in Louisiana said in a statement to reporters: “This is a horrific crime that never should have happened. Thomas McCartney is a predator that needs to be locked away from others in our community.”
Just last year, Louisiana became the first state to allow surgical castration against those who commit sex crimes against minors. The procedure involves the removal of the testicles or ovaries, stopping the production of sex hormones.
Several other states also allow a procedure that uses pharmaceutical drugs to diminish a person’s sex drive too.
The new law was signed by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, and allows judges to order certain people found guilty to undergo the surgery.
The law typically targets those convicted of aggravated sex crimes, such as rape, incest or rape against a child under 13 and is at the judge’s discretion to enforce it.
A physician conducts the surgery, and a court-appointed medical expert needs to determine whether the offender should be elected to proceed. However, a sex offender could refuse the surgery, but they would then be sentenced to additional prison time without the possibility of parole.
While the surgery is at the judge’s discretion, nobody under 17 can receive it as a punishment.
Louisiana Democratic state Rep. Delisha Boyd introduced the bill and believes the backlash against it is from people who think the surgery is forced upon a prisoner.
“Some of the critics say, you know, that's cruel and unusual punishment. Well, I disagree. I think the cruel and usual punishment was the rape of that 5 year old," Boyd said, as per NPR.
Even though the measures are extreme, she believes it’s a way to stop people from attempting to harm children.
“These predators have to be stopped,” she said. “Even if just one rapist changes his mind about raping a child, I will take that.”
While many agree with the punishment, Gwyneth O’Neill, a New Orleans-based criminal defense attorney and a member of National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers called it ‘cruel’ and possibly even unconstitutional.
She said as per the outlet: “Surgical castration is generally considered, or was considered, to be sort of like the paradigmatic example of cruel and unusual punishment, because it's a form of physical mutilation. It's barbaric.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.