Vernon Parish District Attorney Terry Lambright announced that a minor and her family were instrumental in helping to convict a Leesville, Louisiana man of attempted first-degree rape of a child.
Thomas Allen McCartney, 37, pleaded guilty on Aug. 19 to attempted first-degree rape of a 7 year old girl in an incident that occurred in February 2023.
McCartney accepted a plea deal that includes surgical and chemical castration, according to the Vernon Parish District Attorney’s Office.
"During the course of the investigation, it was learned that McCartney had fled to Harris County Texas," Vernon Parish Sheriff’s Office chief detective Rhonda Jordan told NTD in an email. "Vernon Parish detectives coordinated with Texas authorities to take McCartney into custody in Harris County at a hotel."
McCartney's punishment also includes 40 years of hard labor in state prison under the Louisiana Department of Corrections.
Thirtieth Judicial District Court Judge Anthony Eaves ordered both chemical and surgical castration for McCartney who is represented by Attorney Mary Kay Beaird.
Chemical castration uses medications that block testosterone production to decrease sex drive while surgical castration involves the removal of both testicles and, in the case of a woman offender, her ovaries.
“This is a horrific crime that never should have happened," Lambright added. "Thomas McCartney is a predator that needs to be locked away from others in our community."
Beaird did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
“Defendant’s sentences [are] to be served without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension,” Judge Eaves wrote in the order. “Defendant is to be held in a state ran facility, not private. Defendant is also to receive psychological evaluation and complete any recommended treatment.”
State law requires the surgical castration to be administered by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections with a licensed physician.
Other states that allow castration for punishment include Alabama, California, Florida, and Texas however Louisiana is the only state, at this time, that allows judges to impose surgical castration, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Some 2,224 inmates are in prison in Louisiana for such a crime but the law is only applicable to those who were convicted on or after Aug. 1, 2024.