State Panel OKs Chemical Castration Bill

Following dramatic testimony, a state Senate committee Tuesday passed a controversial proposal that would mandate chemical castration as a condition of parole for twice-convicted child molesters, boosting the measure’s chances of approval by the full Senate.

The vote came after a Los Angeles victim of convicted sex offender Reginald Muldrew, the “Pillowcase Rapist,” pleaded for the passage of the measure, authored by Assemblyman Bill Hoge (R-Pasadena).

The woman and her daughter, then 11, were attacked by Muldrew, who was paroled last year after completing his full sentence.

“This man is out of jail,” the mother told members of the Criminal Procedure Committee. “He is running around and my daughter is scared.”

Since his release, Muldrew, who is suspected of assaults on 200 victims, has become a symbol of those seeking reform of the criminal justice system.

If the bill became law, he and other habitual sex offenders convicted of child molestation would be required to take the synthetic female hormone Depo-Provera as a condition of parole.

Although not everyone agrees, some research suggests the drug treatment would blunt both sexual desire and function, thereby intervening in one of the most intractable forms of criminal conduct--pedophilia.

The five committee members who voted for the bill were: Sens. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), Ross Johnson (R-Irvine), Quentin L. Kopp (I-San Francisco) and Daniel E. Boatwright (D-Concord). Sen. Milton Marks (D-San Francisco) voted no.

Hoge said support from committee Democrats meant the measure would probably win passage in the Senate.

“This was the hurdle we had to get over,” Hoge said. “I believe we will clearly have a majority in the Senate.”

To gain the support of committee Democrats, Hoge agreed to change the wording of the bill from “chemical castration” to “hormonal treatment.” Hoge further agreed that the Department of Corrections would bear the cost, estimated at $80 a month.

Still, Watson was not happy with a proposed alternative in the bill in which the offender could choose permanent physical castration instead of hormonal treatment.

“I have a little problem with the physical mutilation aspect of this,” Watson said. “It really starts to dismantle a human being.”

The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the bill as raising serious constitutional concerns about forcibly medicating an inmate, as well as on privacy and due process grounds.

Questions have also been raised about how faithful paroled molesters will be in reporting for the ongoing drug treatment.

But Hoge held sway with the committee, citing a study of the use of the hormone in Europe, in which an 87% recidivism rate went down to 2% among those taking the drug.

“They know how serious this issue of child molestation is,” Hoge said after the vote. “And they know something must be done about it.”