What to do about sex offenders

Prison sentences, no matter how lengthy, can't cure sexual predators. But neither has it been proved that castration works.
Virginia lawmakers who think castration is a simple solution to a complex problem should remember that even armless thieves can steal.

Lawmakers are worried, and rightly so, that if the worst of the worst -- serial rapists and violent child molesters -- are released into society they will again prey upon unsuspecting victims.

The challenge then is to find an acceptable remedy that protects the public from mentally defective criminals who can't keep from re-offending. Lawmakers thought they had this figured out with civil commitments. Rather than release sexually violent offenders after they've served out their sentence, those judged likely to re-offend are locked away on civil confinements.

But this tidy solution has two major glitches. First, civil commitments can't go on indefinitely, as treatment and rehabilitation are still the goals. Second, the cost is steep. Sen. Emmett Hanger told The Washington Post that the program will soon cost $50 million a year.

Last year, lawmakers began searching for more answers. They tip-toed around the topic of castration. This year Hanger wrote it into a bill that would have allowed sexually violent predators to opt for castration and reintegration into society rather than risk a lifetime lockup. By the time the Senate and the House got through amending the bill, it was boiled down to a directive that the attorney general study the feasibility of using physical castration as a treatment option.

Gov. Tim Kaine struck the term "physical castration" and broadened the study to look at a "full range of treatment options." Kaine reasoned that the "bill was overly prescriptive of matters best left to the professionals in our state mental health agency."

The Senate agreed; the House didn't. This doesn't mean, though, that the castration debate is over. Kaine is asking his top mental health officials to review options for sex offender treatment, and lawmakers will surely revisit it next year.

Hanger believes that giving offenders the option of castration would be more humane than locking them away for life, and it would cost Virginia far less money.

However, the question remains as to whether castration would prevent violent offenders from committing other crimes. It has yet to be proved that either surgical or chemical castration is effective.

The governor and lawmakers would do well to use the next few months to call together experts in sexual disorders and mental health to explore all options rather than to assume castration provides an answer.