NATION IN BRIEF : TEXAS : Judge OKs Suspect’s Plea for Castration

A Houston judge approved a child molester’s request to be surgically castrated rather than go to prison for raping a 13-year-old girl. State District Judge Mike McSpadden approved the request from Steven Allen Butler, 28, who at the time of the alleged rape was serving 10 years’ probation after pleading guilty to indecency with a 7-year-old girl. Butler has not entered a plea to the latest charge, which carries a penalty of five years to life in prison. McSpadden said Butler will be placed on a form of probation for 10 years after he undergoes castration.