Group says molester has agreed to privately financed castration

By Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - The convicted child molester who has claimed he'll probably strike again if he isn't castrated signed an agreement to go through with the operation, a victims' rights group announced Wednesday.

Larry Don McQuay, who was moved Monday from a psychiatric prison to the Wackenhut Corrections facility here as part of his parole, has said he wants to be castrated to remove his sexual desire for children.

He claims to have assaulted more than 200 children, but he was convicted in just one case.
"He was coherent, he was lucid, he understood what he was signing up for," said William Hubbarth, attorney for the group Justice For All. "And all he kept stressing was that he wants to have it done immediately."

The state of Texas has refused to pay for such an operation, but Gov. George W. Bush said authorities will cooperate if he is willing to go through with the procedure.
"I will promise you that the state of Texas, with a parole officer, will deliver Mr. McQuay to the operating table," Bush said.

The group, which is unsure how much the procedure and postoperative counseling will cost, was to decide by Thursday whether to move forward with the process.

"We're willing as private citizens and as a nonprofit corporation in the state of Texas to raise the money for him to be castrated," Justice For All board member Pam Lychner said.

The organization did not know how much castration would cost, Ms. Lychner said.

McQuay is to remain at Wackenhut for up to two years and be allowed to leave for work or other business only in the company of a security officer. He also must report to four parole officers.

McQuay served six years of an eight-year conviction for injury to a child stemming from a 1989 attack on a boy in San Antonio. His prison time plus accrued time for good behavior required his parole, officials said.

His confinement to Wackenhut and the round-the-clock supervision is unprecedented, said Victor Rodriguez, chairman of the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole.