Chemical castration a necessity: Guam Senator

Transcript

A Guam Senator says a planned new law which could see sex offenders chemically castrated is a necessity given the high rates of sexual violence in the US Territory.

The Chemical Castration for Sex Offenders bill scraped through the legislature on Thursday by eight votes to seven.

The proposed law will see the Department of Corrections refer convicted sex offenders to undergo anti-androgen treatment one week before their release.

Senator Brant Mc Creadie says Guam has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the United States and that the bill is aimed at curbing the violence.

BRANT MCCREADIE: If you look at the numbers on Guam, we're ranked third in the country per capita, for a hundred thousand people. So this is a big problem and this is something that I feel addresses the problem head on. And as I said earlier in the press release, the legislature has spoken and their message is pretty loud and clear that we take these crimes serious and we are not going to stop until we find an absolute solution to mitigate the problem.

KOROI HAWKINS: Right. Did you look at other states in the country to come up with this legislation?

BM: Yeah, there are seven other states in the jurisdictions that we looked at. We also looked at Europe and had some numbers from them, and some case studies, and came up with what we thought and we still think and believe and I'm glad the legislature agrees, that it's the most responsible, applicable bill that will be able to improve the safety of our community and our citizens,

KH: And is it intended as a deterrent or as something that will take effect once administered?

BM: You can say it's intended as a deterrent, but my intention is for this to be a problem that doesn't exist. So, do I hope it deters? Absolutely I hope it's a deterrent, but I also hope it's an eliminator as well.

KH: What is the process now, when does this come into effect?

BM: First of all, the Governor has to sign it. It should be on his desk soon, so we'll see what the Governor does. I've had conversations with our Governor and he was for the bill. So with his help and his support, this will get signed into law and we can move forward with promulgating the rules and regulations. And then the legislature will then accept and we will start to the treatment. Fifty-three prisoners in the next three years are set to either be released or paroled or probationed, so we'll see what happens.

KH: And this is for a trial period, is that right, what happens after that?

BM: It's a four year pilot programme, and after that hopefully we have enough data within those four years to continue the programme. If we don't have enough data, and we need to do more, we'll continue it. If we do have enough data and the data shows that this is not something that works for our island, then I'm sure we'll take the necessary means that is prudent to what we're trying to accomplish.

KH: Has their been consultation on the bill?

BM: We've had consultation with not just the constituents, but we've had consultation with the numbers, and so the numbers are what led us in this direction. Numbers don't lie. Statistics don't lie for us, and that's all the consulting we needed to move forward. And I guess the legislature as a whole - eight people voted yes and so I'm sure this is something that they thought was necessary and that's why it passed today.

KH: And that was eight to seven, is that the correct voting stats?

BM: Yes, we have fifteen senators.

KH: And the ones that voted against, what were some of their concerns?

BM: I think the concerns were all valid, whether you voted for the bill or not. I think if you didn't have concerns and you didn't participate in the discussion, I didn't really believe that you were dong your job. So that didn't happen. Everyone participated in the discussion and at the legislature, I feel we are compelled to not only make sure we pass legislation to inspire our people to be better and productive members of society but we have to protect them. This is a measure that protects, this is public safety. Anyone who knows anything about politics: people get elected on healthcare, education and public safety. This is an absolute public safety this goes to the very tip and the heart of the problem that we're experiencing and finds a solution.