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Law

Criminal: Castration Or Prison?

A drawing of a judge's robe.
Julienne Alexander
/
Criminal
South Carolina Judge C. Victor Pyle gave three convicted rapists a choice between jail time and castration.

Note: this article contains graphic language.

In 1985, three men in South Carolina viciously raped and attacked a woman at a motel. In this week's episode of Criminal, Phoebe Judge tells us about a judge who proposed a punishment he thought would fit the crime better than jail time. Criminalis a podcast recorded at WUNC and hosted by Phoebe Judge

The victim was 24-year-old Elizabeth Daniel of Anderson, S.C. She was meeting Roscoe Brown, the father of her child, at a motel. Brown wanted to avoid an obligation to pay child support and intended to break off the relationship. He and two other friends proceeded to get drunk and went to the motel to meet Daniel where they viciously raped and attacked her for five to six hours. 

"She lost so much blood that they didn't actually know if she was going to survive," Judge said.

Anderson County Deputy Sheriff Carl Anderson said this was one of most gruesome attacks he ever witnessed.

"It's just a miracle that she survived because the injuries were horrible," he said.

It was clear a jury would find the three men guilty, so the defense attorneys worked on a plea bargain. But the Judge C. Victor Pyle offered an uncommon alternative: Either spend 30 years in prison (the maximum sentence at the time) or surgical castration. 

“There was just dead silence in the courtroom for a moment when he handed that down, and I think a lot of people looked at each other wondering if they’d heard it right," prosecutor George Duckworth said.

Judge said there were mixed reactions from the public to this offer. Some said it was a good idea and the offenders deserved it, while others said this was not a sexual offense, but a violent and criminal offense and the offer was inappropriate.

The three men went to prison. Two of them got out quickly on parole, while the third offender has spent time in and out of prison for repeated rape offenses. Judge said this case opened the door for the public to start to think about castration as a legal sentence.

Since 1985, a number of states have implemented chemical castration, which includes hormonal manipulation as a possibility for repeat sex offenders. Meanwhile, a current bill in the Alabama state legislature would require surgical castration for any offender who is charged with crimes against a child under the age of 12. The offender would be forced to have surgical castration before they leave prison and they would also have to pay for the procedure.

Eric Hodge hosts WUNC’s broadcast of Morning Edition, and files reports for the North Carolina news segments of the broadcast. He started at the station in 2004 doing fill-in work on weekends and All Things Considered.
Rebecca Martinez produces podcasts at WUNC. She’s been at the station since 2013, when she produced Morning Edition and reported for newscasts and radio features. Rebecca also serves on WUNC’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accountability (IDEA) Committee.
Phoebe Judge is an award-winning journalist whose work has been featured on a numerous national radio programs. She regularly conducts interviews and anchors WUNC's broadcast of Here & Now. Previously, Phoebe served as producer, reporter and guest host for the nationally distributed public radio program The Story. Earlier in her career, Phoebe reported from the gulf coast of Mississippi. She covered the BP oil spill and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina for Mississippi Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio. Phoebe's work has won multiple Edward R. Murrow and Associated Press awards. Phoebe was born and raised in Chicago and is graduate of Bennington College and the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.
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