Wednesday, 12 January 2005

Alexander: Chemical castration kindest cut of all for society

New Zealand should be looking at chemical castration for the likes of sex offender Lloyd McIntosh rather than getting into lather about cost-cutting on round-the-clock supervision, United Future's Marc Alexander said today.

"Yes, it is a major concern when we have a cut-back in his supervision. Anything that increases the risk of him reoffending is rightly worrying.

"However it is also criminal that we as a society have had to fork out $1000 a day for two fulltime escorts," Mr Alexander, the party's law and order spokesman, said.

He said that chemical castration was used in the United States and parts of Europe and had been demonstrated to cut reoffending rates from 40-50 percent to between 2-4 percent.

"A lot of people don't like the term 'castration', but the reality that this treatment makes society a lot safer from sex offenders.

"And why should the taxpayers be fronting up with $1000 a day to keep people safe from the likes of Lloyd McIntosh?"

ENDS

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