Castration requested

Press, 10 October 1984, Page 4

Castration requested

PA Auckland A father jailed for incest yesterday wanted to be chemically castrated so his daughter would not see him as some sort of monster, the District Court at Auckland heard. Judge Imrie jailed the man for 2Vi years on the charge of incest and recommended that the prison authorities give him psychiatric help. He was sentenced to 12 months concurrently on a charge of indeceht assault. Tha man’s name was suppressed.

Counsel, Mr Aaron Perkins, said the man, aged 36, admitted assaulting his daughter when she was eight and committing incest about nine or 10 months ago about five times, when she was aged 12. The man’s wife left him in 1980 to live with his best friend and this was a shattering experience he still had not come to grips with. He became a Christian for about 18 months in 1980 and no assaults happened in that time. The man wanted to undergo chemical castration

by taking pills to reduce his libido. He felt this might set his daughter’s mind at rest and she might not view him as some form of monster. The Judge said the daughter, now 13, was emotionally very damaged. The man had no previous convictions, had a satisfactory work record and the probation report showed that his upbringing was remarkably unsettled. The man regretted his offences but the sentence should protect children and express society’s disapproval the Judge said.