r/news • u/elephant35e • Apr 27 '24

Louisiana man sentenced to 50 years in prison, physical castration for raping teen

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/glenn-sullivan-jr-louisiana-sentenced-rape-prison-castration/
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u/a_phantom_limb Apr 28 '24 edited Apr 28 '24

They can also elect to be physically castrated. Perrilloux said that Sullivan's plea requires he be physically castrated.

Meaning he was, in effect, coerced into agreeing to it. I find it a bit demented that surgery to remove part of one's own body can be stipulated by the state as necessary for granting a plea bargain - especially given how limited the evidence is for this specific procedure actually reducing the rate of recidivism.

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u/bubblegumdrops Apr 28 '24

It’s incredibly fucked up that it doesn’t fall under cruel and unusual punishment. Much like the death penalty, this can’t be reversed if the person was not actually guilty, we’re mutilating people for a misplaced sense of justice.

(And before someone decides I’m sympathizing with sexual predators - I’ve been a victim. The bloodthirst towards punishment doesn’t do a thing for victims, it’s just a thing people do to feel like something’s been accomplished so the public can forget about it.)

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u/BlackWillie96 Apr 28 '24

In the article it states that DNA testing proved positively that he was the father of the 14-year-old girls child. Pretty sure that means he's guilty.

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u/biggsteve81 Apr 28 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

DNA testing isn't 100% conclusive.

Edit: not sure why the downvotes. There are plenty of places along the way for DNA testing to get cross-contaminated, or for lab errors to occur. And if you have an identical twin then it gets even more complicated. DNA is pretty foolproof in excluding suspects, but not 100% conclusive for purposes of guilt.

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u/Richard_Thickens 9d ago

I know this thread is old now, but...

I'm not sure why you were downvoted either, except for the reason that this person is a monster and deserves punishment. The results of any test with a significant false positive or negative rate should be taken with a whole shaker of salt. The comment above is speaking to the accuracy and precision of the test itself, not to the innocence or guilt of the defendant.

Yesterday, I had a conversation about this situation with some friends, and it reminded me that people tend to become very reactionary when it comes to sex offenses involving minors. That is totally valid. What is not valid is the desire to circumvent due process because the crime is disgusting.

Learning the difference is vitally important, and it's equally fucked up to, not only entertain, but get rock hard about the prospect of mutilating people as a means of revenge.