An Alabama lawmaker wants sex offenders castrated before being released from prison.
Rep. Steve Hurst, R-Calhoun County, introduced the HB 365 bill last week.
HB 365 would require castration of sex offenders over the age of 21 that committed sex offenses against children 12 years or younger.
“They have marked this child for life and the punishment should fit the crime,” Hurst told WIAT.
“If we do something of this nature it would deter something like this happening again in Alabama and maybe reduce the numbers.”
The bill would require the castration be done before the sex offender’s release from prison. It would also require the sex offender to pay for the cost of the procedure.
Castration can mean surgical removal of genitalia, or routine injections of a chemical that suppresses the amount of testosterone a man produces, Fred Berlin, founder of the Johns Hopkins University sexual disorder clinic, told the Anniston Star in a previous interview.
At least eight states—including California, Florida, and Montana—allow castration of repeat sex offenders.
But while the Alabama bill has attracted attention, it has not progressed far the previous times that Hurst has introduced it—HB 365 would need approval from the judiciary committee, then would need to be approved by the Alabama House and Senate.
Still, Hurst is determined to get it through.
He told the Star several years ago, “I'll introduce it every year until it gets passed.”
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