This morning, the Minnesota House's Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy and Finance Committee heard from Dennis Benson, director of the state's sex offender program.

House District 25A's Glenn Gruenhagen, already celebrated for his controversial opinions on alcoholism, "sodomy," multiculturalism, mixed gender classroom and welfare as a form of state-sponsored prostitution, piped up with another radical position, according to the MPR report Lawmakers take hard look at sex offender program:

But lawmakers reviewing the program during Tuesday's hearing questioned whether more could be done to protect the public. "I am talking about chain gangs, where they do strong, physical labor. Which is one of the best medicines for deviant behavior," said Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe, who added that the state should even consider castration. "It sure worked on the farm."

Gruehagen did not cite studies that support his notion that chain gangs are "one of the best medicines for deviant behavior."

The Glencoe-area lawmaker's remarks can be heard here, beginning at 47:57. At the 52:40 minute mark, he cities an anecdotal story related by a longtime employee in a sex offender program that he "happened to run into." She had told Gruenhagen that sex offender lived better than many people outside of the corrections system, with softcore porn and computers at their disposal.

Benson responded that Gruenhagen's source must have worked some time ago, as the offenders had not had access to computers or softcore porn since before he started working at the program in 2008. He added that a vocational work program was available for those who enrolled in treatment.

Gruenhagen asks about castration at the 56:19 point. After hearing the program's clinical director, Jannine Hebert explain of how chemical castration only addresses behavior in a few sex offenders, Gruenhagen disagreed, making his comment about how "it sure worked on the farm."

There's a relish in his voice when he talks about castration (he lingers over the syllables in the word), and it's obvious he's not savoring chemical castration, but the process used on livestock.

One wonders just what sort of offenses committed by barnyard animals that method cured on the farm.

On Sunday, the Star Tribune reported:

. . .state officials have recommended supervised release for two violent sex offenders who are under indefinite commitment at a state treatment center in St. Peter. . .

Photo: Representative Glenn Gruenhagen, Glencoe, whose questions hit a new bottom in today's hearing.

The Star Tribune took a long look at the program in Locked in Limbo: A 2009 look inside the Minnesota Sex Offender Program