Guam sex offenders to get chemical castration

Masako Watanabe | Pacific (Guam) Daily News

HAGATNA, Guam — The Guam Legislature Thursday narrowly passed a bill for the creation of a pilot program to chemically castrate convicted sex offenders.

The Chemical Castration for Sex Offenders Act passed 8-7, according to a release from the legislature.

The pilot program at the Department of Correction will screen and refer convicted sex offenders to undergo anti-androgen treatment, or chemical castration, one week before their release. The candidates will be those eligible for release on parole within six months.

The bill will be forwarded to the governor.

“Thank you to my seven colleagues for passing this measure. With the support of Governor (Eddie) Calvo, Guam will join seven other jurisdictions in the nation and will be the only territory in adopting chemical castration for sex offenders and pedophiles,” the bill's author, Republican Sen. Brant McCreadie, said in a press release.

An amendment by Sen. Frank Blas Jr., R-Barrigada, established a sunset provision, giving the pilot program a 48-month period.

During deliberations on the bill Wednesday, Vice Speaker Benjamin J. Cruz, D-Piti, expressed concern that such a measure could lead to other legislation based on the eye-for-an-eye punishment.

"Is there going to be a piece of legislation to cut out tongues, cut out hands?" he had said.

The bill was introduced as a response to the FBI's 2013 crime statistics, which breaks down rape numbers for the territories and states.

In 2013, Guam saw a rate of 64.2 reported rapes per 100,000 people — high above the national average of 25.2 per 100,000 people, news files state. Of the 50 states, only Alaska had a higher rate than Guam, reporting a rate of 87.6 rapes per 100,000 people.

"The numbers are staggering," McCreadie, said Wednesday during a discussion of the measure on the Legislature floor. "It's frustrating, ... it makes you shake your head."

The legislation would be a "first step to addressing Guam's rape problem," the McCreadie said, adding: "We need to find solutions, this Legislature needs to find solutions."

During the opening discussions on the bill Wednesday, Sens. Tom Ada, D-Tamuning, Mary Torres, R-Santa Rita, and Nerissa Underwood, D-Tamuning, raised several concerns.

Torres was concerned the measure infringes on the individual's civil liberties.

"What we're doing is imposing on their civil liberties," she said. "The judicial system allows for people to rehabilitate."

Underwood opposed the bill and raised concerns that the legislation did not specify a beginning-and-end time frame for the pilot program. She proposed the bill be removed from the session floor and sent back to committee.

Her motion failed, however, as it received supporting votes from only two other senators — Cruz and Ada.

When discussions resumed, Blas expressed his support for the measure. He also proposed a series of amendments to address some of the concerns of his colleagues.

One of those amendments, which he worked on with Underwood, established the sunset provision, giving the pilot program a 48-month period. Blas also proposed DOC complete an evaluation of the pilot program within 36 months of the program's implementation.Lawmakers agreed to Blas' proposed changes.

Contributing: Shawn Raymundo, Pacific Daily News.