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A South Carolina GOP lawmaker has introduced legislation that would give judges the option of castrating sex offenders in addition to imposing prison sentences and fines against them.
The bill – H. 3044 – was pre-filed this Thursday (December 5, 2024) by second-term state representative Brandon Guffey of Rock Hill, S.C. It was referred to the judiciary committee of the S.C. House of Representatives, a panel chaired by veteran “Republican” Weston Newton.
Per the language of the bill, castrations would be carried out by licensed physicians under the auspices of the S.C. Department of Corrections (SCDC). The punishment would apply only in cases in which the victims are “thirteen years of age or younger” and the offenders are “eighteen years of age or older at the time of commission of the offense.”
As noted, the sentence of castration would come “in addition to any other penalty imposed for the offense.”
Per the legislation, a court-appointed doctor would conduct an examination within two months of the sentence being handed down to ensure the offender was an “appropriate candidate” for the procedure. In the event castration is ordered in conjunction with a prison sentence, it would be carried out just before the end of the term of incarceration.
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“An order of the court sentencing an offender to surgical castration pursuant to this section is contingent upon a determination by a court-appointed medical expert that the offender is an appropriate candidate for surgery,” the text of the bill noted. “This determination must be made not later than sixty days from the imposition of the sentence. In all cases involving an offender sentenced to a period of incarceration or confinement in an institution, the procedure must be performed not later than one week before the offender’s release from incarceration or an institution.”
Convicted sex offenders who refuse the procedure “must be punished by imprisonment of not more than five years, no part of which may be suspended nor probation or parole granted.”
In other words, if a judge imposes castration and a convicted sex offender refuses to go under the knife – they would be adding five year to their term of imprisonment.
Louisiana recently approved legislation providing for surgical castration of sex offenders. Several other states – including Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Montana, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin – have statutes on their books providing for chemical castration as an option for sex offenders looking to reduce their terms of imprisonment.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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14 comments
I bet the Freedom Caucus will oppose this…
Pedos like remaining anonymous
Go seek your fame and fortune trying to lynch big tech little guy.
Sounds barbaric, especially given the twisted way Legislators word these laws, saying that it is impossible for an underage person to legally give consent, therefore such a liaison would automatically be the same as forceable rape, which it is not. Who has not seen what they thought was a woman in their late teens or early twenties somewhere, only to learn that the “woman” was a thirteen or fourteen year old girl, in reality?
Upon hearing the term “sex offender”, most peoples’ minds automatically shift to “rapist”, baby raper”, or similarly loathsome person. Unfortunately, such is frequently just not the case. Many people wearing the sex-offender label for life include those who had too much to drink and in an intoxicated state, had the misfortune of choosing to relieve themselves in public, young couples who thought it would be fun to have intercourse on a beach where they thought they were alone but were seen by some Karen with children in tow, or maybe students in the same high school where one was 18 or 19 and the other a few years or days below an arbitrary age set by Vestal Virgins such as Brandon Guffey, who have possibly done much worse in their life, already. After these people serve their time, complete parole or probation, and supposedly pay their debt to society, they must forever or for decades, continue to register as “filthy sex offenders”, paying $150 a year to their County Sheriff, register any and all modes of transportation they might use including skateboards and bicycles, register all internet passwords, and other ridiculous stuff. In some many of these cases, punishment for exceeds the crime.
This madness, with politicians making a name for themselves by persecuting a very much hated class of citizens who often did nothing anywhere near what the connotation of their offender status conjures up, so the public gets a false feeling of safety, needs to stop.
Brandon Guffey is a complete self serving idiot. Full of anger and rage for his own failure to properly teach his son morality and not to send nude pics of himself. So wouldn’t his own son be guilty of child porn by sending nude pics? Now he blames social media, big tech, the Nigerians and anyone else he deems to be a “pedo”. He thinks he’s a one man wrecking crew waging war on big tech yet fails completely to warn parents the dangers of allowing kids on social media and smart devices. This one has severe Napoleon complex. What is really sad is the cheer leading section for him who fail to see his foolish behavior. They all know nothing will incite more anger and wrath than an accusation of sex offender. He truly is a sad, angry little man out to only promote himself and his little ego in a dangerous fashion.
I see why you remained anonymous…
Yeah really, it’s quite obvious that anonymous is much more likely than not a registered sex offender/predator.
Nope Far from it. I just prefer not to be demonized by you ignorant dweeb who believe all the hype, brainwashing, and fear-mongering, that pieces of crap like Guffey try and build their political career on. It is the modern equivalent of Witch hunting. Difficult to prove or disprove, but once you hang the label on someone it never goes away.
If govt can F something up it would be something like this. While I agree in principle the chances that our self serving state govt would destroy any hope of real justice would be great.
Insane barbaric laws that bring SC closer to Afganistan. Enough men are fasley convicted of crimes now this. Insanity.
The rape of young children in Afghanistan is socially accepted.
Sounds good to me.
Would that mean Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, and Matt Gaetz could not set foot in the state?
Naah…to the rightwingers it’s always the “other guys,”(read liberals) who are the offenders. Never their own. Don’t you know that would be hypocrisy. No doubt the government has been “weaponized” against Republican R.J. May.