Senate OKs Bill on ‘Chemical Castration’
Child molesters could be required to take hormone-suppressing drugs under a “chemical castration” bill that passed the state Senate on Thursday.
Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) said the measure was designed to put “an end to the nightmare of child molestation.”
“This is a treatment that in Europe has produced a dramatic drop in recidivism,” he said.
The bill, by Assemblyman Bill Hoge (R-Pasadena), would authorize courts to require child molesters to take hormone-suppressing drugs when paroled from prison after a first offense. For a second offense, the drug treatment would be mandatory.
A molester who agreed to be physically castrated would not be covered by the requirement.
A 25-1 vote sent Hoge’s bill back to the Assembly for consideration of Senate amendments.
The bill also would repeal an old law that allows courts to order the physical castration of someone found guilty of the “carnal abuse of a female person under age of 10.”
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