Chemical castration may save Oz sex offenders from harsh punishment

Melbourne, June 24 : Sex offenders in Queensland can now avoid indefinite sentences by volunteering for chemical castration, with the government incorporating certain changes in the existing rules.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has announced that the procedure would be carried out only after it was recommended by a psychiatrist, and consented to by the sex offender.

Bligh says that sex offenders will now be allowed to argue before a court that they are undertaking ongoing chemical castration procedure as part of their release conditions.

She, however, ruled out mandatory chemical castration, insisting that the research had shown it did not work.

"All the research indicates that chemical intervention only works if it's done as part of the overall treatment of a sex offender," the Courier Mail quoted Bligh, as saying.

The suggestion was made in a review of the controversial Dangerous Prisoners (Sex Offenders) Act undertaken by several government departments.

ANI