The article below is on the front page of the Sunday edition of the Asheville (North Carolina) Citizen-Times. It is far better than I would have expected given both the subject and the section of the country. The Eunuch Archive is mentioned at the end of the article I've highlighted it in red.
Jon Ostendorff is interested in further information about castration, eunuchs, and cutters and has written to Richard Wassersug to set up an interview. I may also be interviewed by him.
I have looked through the on-line listing of North Carolina statutes, but have been unable to find the one for
Dave (imported) wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2006 8:16 pm
maiming and castration without malice
, though I did find a Class C felony, number G.S. 14-28 Malicious Castration, which immediately follows in the statutes the law against statutory rape of a 13 to 15 year old by someone who is more than 4, but less than 6 years older than the victim.
Suspects in castrations go to court
by Jon Ostendorff, STAFF WRITER
Sunday, April 2, 2006
WAYNESVILLE - Three men charged with performing castrations on at least six men in their Haywood County home will likely go to court Monday.
A judge will advise them of their rights. They will also be given the opportunity to ask for a court-appointed attorney,
Saturday.
The men
Dave (imported) wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2006 8:16 pm
charged in connection with the illegal surgeries are:
o Michael Mendez, 60, of 541 Peace Mountain Road, on charges of castration without malice, maiming without malice and practicing medicine without a license.
o Richard Peter Sciara, 61, of 541 Peace Mountain Road, on charges of maiming and castration without malice, conspiracy and practicing medicine without a license.
o Danny Carroll Reeves, 49, of 541 Peace Mountain Road, on charges of maiming and castration without mal
ice, conspiracy and practicing medicine without malice.
Investigators said in court documents that the three men are sexual lovers and have a master-slave relationship.
State law requires the hearing for defendants who have not made bond within 96 hours of their arrest. As of Saturday evening, the men were in jail on $150,000 bond each.
Prosecutors will not offer evidence during the hearing.
The first hearing that could provide more details of the alleged castrations and illegal surgeries will be April 12. During that hearing, the state will offer evidence that shows it had cause to believe a crime was committed.
If convicted on the felony charges, the men, who do not have criminal records, could face up to 15 years in prison, the prosecutor said. They would receive probation if convicted on the misdemeanor charges.
Investigators believe that at least six men traveled from across the nation - and one from South America - to learn slave training and be castrated by Sciara, whom they called Master Rick.
Haywood County authorities said Friday the men were castrated during eight illegal surgeries at a house in the Allens Creek community, which police described as a castration dungeon.
The operations took place from June 2004 to November 2005 in a room off the carport that the participants called the dungeon.
Investigators said they found DVDs of the surgeries when they searched the home on Wednesday. They also found bloody scalpels, an invoice for pain medication and other medical equipment in the home.
They believe the victims willingly participated.
Investigators would not comment on how the men learned to perform the surgeries or whether anyone was paid. Papers filed with the search warrant for the house Friday do not mention evidence of medical training, other than a physician's reference book discovered in a bedroom.
A search of state health board Web sites in Kansas - where Sciara and Mendez once lived - and in Sciara's home state of California showed neither men have medical licenses. Reeves, who moved to Haywood County from Atlanta, does not have a medical license in Georgia, according to that state's medical board Web site.
Lawrence T. Buening Jr., executive director of the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, said Saturday that Sciara has never held a license to practice medicine in his state.
Castrations are often performed by urologists or endocrinologists, according to an online resource for transsexuals. One surgeon, who posts prices online, charges $2,000 for the procedure.
Because it eliminates the sources of masculine hormones, orchiectomy - surgical removal of the testicles - is a form of sex change for some people.
But underground cutters - a secret network of castrators without medical licenses - are also not uncommon. Stories on the Web site eunuch.org detail experiences with unlicensed surgeons.
Contact Ostendorff at 452-1467 or
jostendorff@CITIZEN-TIMES.com.
Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times
Sunday, April 2, 2006
402/NEWS01/60401026/1011
