State Senate passes castration bill again

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A bill to allow a judge to order the surgical castration of sex offenders easily passed the Oklahoma Senate on Tuesday. <br><br>The measure by Sen. Frank Shurden, D-Henryetta, was

Wednesday, March 10th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A bill to allow a judge to order the surgical castration of sex offenders easily passed the Oklahoma Senate on Tuesday.

The measure by Sen. Frank Shurden, D-Henryetta, was approved 32-11 and now goes to the House for consideration.

Shurden said the number of serious sex crimes that have been committed in Oklahoma since he first introduced such legislation in 1979 demands that ``drastic action'' be taken.

``Let's put another tool in our arsenal to help protect our women and children from these predators,'' he said.

Since 1979, Shurden said, 32,560 rapes have been reported in Oklahoma.

He said that really equates to more than 300,000 rapes since it is ``conservatively'' estimated that only one in 10 rapes are reported to police.

Shurden's bill originally would have allowed chemical castration, along with the surgical procedure.

But he removed that option, saying chemical castration has not been effective in eight states where it is lawful.

Under Shurden's latest plan, a judge can order surgical castration of someone convicted of rape or forcible sodomy if two ``aggravating circumstances'' exist, such as the rape of a child under 14 years of age, a sex crime that is especially cruel or one that causes serious physical injury to the victim.

There was no debate against the bill, which also would allow castration to be used as a condition for parole or for receiving a suspended sentence.

Shurden later said physical castration is ``the only way to really rehabilitate a child molester or a pedophile.''

He said those arguments that violent sex crimes will continue even after castration ``are not true.''

He said there are studies that show the effectiveness of castration in Europe decades ago when they were legal there.

``Removing testosterone removes violent behavior in men and those who say it doesn't don't know what they are talking about,'' Shurden said.

Shurden was successful in the getting a castration bill through the Legislature two years ago, but it was vetoed by former Gov. Frank Keating.