Louisiana legislators approve surgical castration option for those guilty of child sex crimes
Louisiana has become the first state in the nation to allow judges to sentence people convicted of the most serious sex crimes against young children to surgical castration. After lawmakers gave the bill final approval on June 3, 2024, Republican Governor Jeff Landry signed it into law, and it took effect on August 1, 2024 as Act 651, adding the irreversible procedure as a sentencing option on top of incarceration.
The measure was sponsored by Democratic state Senator Regina Barrow of Baton Rouge, who framed it as a deterrent and a response to the gravity of the offenses. “We’re talking about children who are defenseless,” she said, stressing that judges would weigh each case individually rather than impose the punishment automatically. The law applies to aggravated sex offenses—including rape, incest, and molestation—when the victim was under the age of 13 and the crime occurred on or after August 1, 2024. It is gender-neutral, applying to both male and female offenders, and does not apply to anyone under 17.
The law marks a substantial departure from prior practice. Chemical castration—which uses medication to lower testosterone and sex drive—has been legal in Louisiana since 2008 and is also available in states such as California, Florida, and Texas, but Louisiana’s 2008 chemical-castration statute was rarely used, with officials able to recall only one or two cases between 2010 and 2019. Surgical castration, which involves the permanent removal of the testicles or ovaries, is far more invasive, and Louisiana joined a very short list of jurisdictions worldwide—the Czech Republic, Madagascar, and Nigeria’s Kaduna State—that authorize it as a penalty.
Act 651 includes several built-in conditions. A castration order is contingent on a court-appointed medical expert determining—within 60 days of sentencing—that the offender is “an appropriate candidate for surgery,” and the procedure cannot be required when it is not medically appropriate. The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, which is responsible for carrying it out through a licensed physician, has indicated it envisions contracting with a board-certified urologist at an offsite hospital, with the surgery to occur shortly before an offender’s release. An offender who refuses or fails to appear for the procedure faces a separate “failure to comply” charge carrying an additional three to five years in prison without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
The law has drawn sharp criticism on both ethical and constitutional grounds. Opponents argue it amounts to “cruel and unusual” punishment in violation of the U.S. Constitution and infringes on bodily integrity and the right to reproduce, and they note that the American Medical Association’s ethics code directs physicians to avoid court-ordered procedures designed to inflict punishment—raising the question of whether any doctor could ethically participate. Critics also question its effectiveness as a deterrent, point to the heightened danger of wrongful convictions in sexual-assault cases, and warn that the additional-prison-time-versus-surgery choice is inherently coercive. Bioethicists and defense attorneys have predicted the statute will face significant court challenges. Supporters counter that the severity of crimes against young children justifies an equally severe response and that the threat of the procedure may protect future victims.
Since taking effect, the law has begun to surface in actual cases. In August 2025, Thomas Allen McCartney pleaded guilty in Vernon Parish to attempted first-degree rape of a 7-year-old girl and, as part of his plea, agreed to both chemical and surgical castration along with a 40-year prison sentence. On April 6, 2026, Zachary Dewayne Doolittle pleaded guilty to charges including first-degree rape of a child under 13 and, under the law’s provisions, chose surgical castration rather than the additional prison time attached to refusal. Some prosecutors have observed that certain defendants may view agreeing to the procedure—which would not be performed until years or decades later—as a way to negotiate a shorter sentence, and district attorneys across the state say they are watching closely to see how often the option is used.
The castration law was one of a wave of tough-on-crime measures Landry signed after taking office in January 2024, a package that also expanded execution methods, curtailed parole for new convictions, and stiffened other penalties. Louisiana courts had previously confronted physical castration in at least one high-profile case: in April 2024, before Act 651 took effect, a Livingston Parish judge ordered the physical castration of Glenn Sullivan Sr., who was sentenced to 50 years for raping and impregnating a 14-year-old girl. How Act 651 ultimately fares—in the courtroom and against the constitutional challenges its opponents promise—remains an open and closely watched question. Additional coverage of related cases is available in our Crimes Against Children reporting.
