A serial child rapist in Louisiana has been sentenced to surgical and chemical castration after pleading guilty to the attempted rape of a 7-year-old girl, according to authorities and reports.
Thomas Allen McCartney, a “Tier Three” sex offender with a long rap sheet of child sex abuse, accepted the punishment on Tuesday as a part of a plea deal for attempted first-degree rape of a child under the age of 13, Fox 12 reported.
McCartney, 37, agreed to the surgical and chemical castration and will also serve 40 years in prison under the plea deal, the outlet said.
The plea follows a disturbing incident in February 2023 when a mother caught McCartney in the act of sexually abusing her daughter, KPLC reported.
McCartney brandished a firearm to escape the scene and fled across state lines. He was later captured at a Houston hotel and extradited back to Louisiana, according to the outlet.
He was also previously convicted of attempted aggravated rape and was arrested on two counts of aggravated rape of a 12-year-old in 2010 and one count of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile in 2006, court records showed.
“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,” Vernon Parish District Attorney Terry Lambright said in a statement to reporters.
Louisiana has become the first state where judges can order offenders guilty of certain sex crimes against children to undergo surgical castration under a bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry last year.
Proponents of the Louisiana law, which took effect on Aug. 1, 2024, hope the new possible punishment will deter people from committing sex crimes against children. However, opponents argue that it is “cruel and unusual” punishment in violation of the US Constitution.
Chemical castration is a procedure that often involves using medication to reduce testosterone or other sex hormones, lowering sex drive, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Surgical castration involves the removal of testicles in men to also stop the production of sex hormones.
With Post wires
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