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It was a distinguished committee of experts which met in the office of Mr. Myron L. Strong, the new Superintendent of the Smithsfield Correctional Institute for Boys one morning in September of 1872. They were Judge Alexander Stansfield formerly of the State Supreme Court, Dr. Jeremiah Peers, M.D., and the Rev. Dr. Demosthenes Worrell, D.D.Mr. Strong was grateful to them for condescending to meet with him to discuss conditions at the Institute. "As I am sure that you are aware, gentlemen, I have but recently assumed this office upon the retirement of the previous Superintendent, Mr. Manfred Faulpelz. I had no idea what I had got myself into until Mr. Grayhame, the Captain of the guards and the most senior employee here at the Institute asked to confer with me privately. He presented me with documentation of a long history of sodomy here in which the older inmates have victimized the younger ones for at least ten years. In addition, he reported that excessive masturbation is and has been almost universal among the boys. Upon comparing Mr. Grayhame's records with those of the former Superintendent, I found that all of these cases had been reported to him, but, only the most outrageous offences were the subject of any disciplinary action, and that rarely worse than a reprimand. These practices have continued to this day, and, to date, I have taken no action because I must first understand the extent and limitations of my authority and the meaning of my mandate.It is to elucidate these matters that I have requested your assistance. Dr. Peers, I understand that you have had much experience in dealing with sodomy as a medical problem. Would you be so kind as to inform me of the customary medically accepted procedures employed to correct this problem ?" Dr. Peers cleared his throat and spoke. "My practise , as you are, I believe, aware, is limited to the treatment of onanism, spermatorrhoea, priapism. satyriasis, and sodomy. I have treated these conditions in Heidelberg, London, St. Petersburg, and finally, here, over a period of some 37 years. I have learned by this long experience that the passions of the sodomite cannot be re-directed to their proper object, to wit, the female. The only way to prevent the sodomite from continuing to practise his foul vice is to render him incapable of it. For this reason, it has long been my practise (and that of many other physicians whom I could name) to treat sodomy by castration and resection of the pudendal nerve. This both eradicates the desire and , by paralyzing the membrum virile and rendering it insensitive, makes it impossible to act upon the urge, were it to be present. The two operations can be performed in a total time of about twenty minutes and are safe and totally effective.Although the furor sexualis can be eradicated by the use of certain drugs, such as potasii bromid, this treatment tends to stupefy the patient and cannot be continued indefinitely without permanent deleterious effects. Therefore, I strongly urge that the inmates who have been in the habit of committing sodomy upon the younger inmates be castrated and undergo resection of the pudendal nerve, as a public health measure, rendering them harmless to the other inmates " "Thank you, Dr. Peers. This information is very helpful to me. Judge Stansfield, according to my contract, I am empowered to 'take such actions as may be necessary to protect the health and welfare of the inmates.' In your opinion, does this phraseology justify treatment of the inmates who have been committing sodomy as described by Dr. Peers ? In short, does my mandate to protect the health and welfare of the inmates justify my having these operations performed on the sodomites ?" "If they have continued these practises since you became Superintendent, yes. Those who have performed these unnatural acts in the past might claim to have discontinued them and, thus, not to require this drastic treatment. Remember, that what you propose is a health measure, NOT a punishment. Though what these boys have already done are crimes under existing laws , if they were to be punished for these crimes, they would have to be tried individually by a court of law . Depending on the number of boys involved,. this might well be unfeasible.Those who continue to commit sodomy, instead of being charged with the crime of sodomy, could be treated surgically by Dr. Peers and any charges of sodomy would not be pressed. How many boys are involved ? That is, how many boys have committed sodomy according to Mr. Grayhame's report and Mr. Faulpelz's records ?" " There are 103 inmates at this institution. 49 are alleged to have committed sodomy at least once. Dr. Peers, would you care to elaborate upon the harm that may be sustained by the victims of sodomy by the older inmates ?" "The harm is both physical and emotional. Repeated submission to sodomy distends the anal sphincter until it cannot close, but gapes permanently open, causing incontinence. Anal fissures, fistulae, and haemorrhoids are common sequelae to this kind of abuse. The repeated impact of a large membrum virile upon the prostate gland of the catamite can injure it, causing chronic prostatitis, spermatorrhoea and impotence. Distressing as these injuries are, the emotional effects of forced submission to an unnatural act can be even worse.If the membrum virile of the sodomite be small, the stimulation of the nerves of the rectum and the prostate can, surprising though it may seem, cause intense sensations of sexual pleasure to the catamite (the submitter). Young boys who have had little acquaintance with opposite sex and little or no opportunity to develop a normal interest in them, having experienced this unnatural pleasure first, may be unable to adapt to normal sexual intercourse and will instead come to prefer the experiences which they had in submitting to sodomy. Such boys will never develop a normal interest in the opposite sex and will be lifelong catamites.They are ruined for normal love and for marriage." Mr. Strong thanked Dr. Peers for his explanation and finally turned to the Rev. Dr. Worrell." That I have waited until last to ask your opinions, sir, in no way implies that they are of lesser importance, but rather that they must constitute the last word in such a discussion as this. What, then, of the moral and spiritual aspects of the rampant sodomy which occurs here ?" "Sodomy is one of the very gravest of sins. For this sin, God destroyed two whole cities and all of their inhabitants. Unless they be redeemed by being bathed in the blood of the Lamb, these boys who have committed sodomy have doomed their souls to Hell. What they have done is triply a crime: a crime against nature, a crime against man's laws, and a crime against God's law. The seriousness of the crime lies not so much in the act as itself, wicked and disgusting though it be, but in the motivation for it. The sins both of Sodom and of Onan are attempts to thwart the will of God. Reproductive organs were given men for the propagation of the race. Men were given seed to beget offspring, not to bring it forth for selfish pleasure and waste it on the ground or in the sterile entrails of a boy.Better they should be deprived of it by the surgeon's scalpel than that they should defile themselves and innocent boys with it. In Matthew 19:12, our Lord speaks approvingly of castration.'There be those who were born eunuchs out of their mothers' wombs, and there be those who have been made eunuchs of men, and there be those who have made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake. He who is able to receive it, let him receive it.' The operations proposed by Dr. Peers are a necessary first step. Afterward, an intensive effort must be made to save the souls of these young transgressors." Dr. Worrell had, as Mr. Strong predicted, said the last word on the subject. Armed with the information he needed. Mr. Strong thanked the three experts whom he had consulted and prepared to act upon their recommendations.The next morning, he called an assembly and informed the boys in no uncertain terms that sodomy, "using another boy for your pleasure as if he were a woman", would NOT be tolerated. "If you ever do this again, it will be the last time ever." He was no more specific than that. If the boys failed to take it seriously, that was not his fault. Within a month's time, 33 boys had defied Mr. Strong's warning. Then, the necessary arrangements with Dr. Peers having been made, the axe fell. It was decided that all of the operations could be performed in a 12-hour period, allowing Dr, Peers an hour for lunch and rest. The most rebellious and defiant sodomites went under the knife first. Dr. Peers had found that cleanliness aided healing and was conscientious about that (more so than 90% of his cointemporaries), but anęsthesia was altogether too time-consuming and unnecessary to the success of the operations. Dr. Peers cut away a small portion of the bottom of the scrotum so that the testicles spilled out, grasped them and pulled them to expose as much as possible of the spermatic cords, applied two gut ligatures to each cord and cut between them. Then he sutured the opening in the bottom of the scrotum. A short incision in the perineum exposed the pudendal nerve which was caught with a blunt hook, withdrawn, and twisted, to the accompaniment of much screaming by the patient and then cut the twisted nerve close to the perineum. This removed between 1½ and 2 inches of the nerve, enough to be sure that it would never regrow in the patient's life time. None of the boys had had any idea of what was to be done to them and were incredulous and deeply shocked when they found themselves being castrated.. The most defiant of the boys was 16-year-old Spencer McWatty. Throughout the earlier part of the procedure he kept up an endless stream of abuse, profanity, and obscenity. When the cords were cut and he realized that he was no longer male, he fell silent for a moment and then, unexpectedly, bursted into tears. He was still sobbing when he was returned to the dormitory. A mulatto boy named Tyrone deLorme guessed what was afoot and begged them piteously not to castrate him, promising never to touch another boy ever again. He was assured that, indeed he would not. Upon seeing his severed testicles lifted out and dropped into a waste crock, he said "This can't be real." and fainted. Word finally reached the boys who were waiting in the gymnasium and it became more difficult to control them and bring them into the operating room one at a time. Some of them fought with the guards who did not hesitate to kick them in the groin, considering that their privates would soon be useless anyhow. The group in the gymnasium was broken up into several smaller groups and placed under guard in several smaller rooms. John Corvo, aged 17, was confined at the institute for rape. He had the body of a man, the genitals of a man, and was very sexually experienced. He fought furiously in a vain attempt to save his testicles and had to be brought to the operating table handcuffed asnd hobbled. Of course, he was basically not a sodomite. He was merely substituting boys for the unavailable girls. He knew only too well the effects which the operations would have on him, having helped to castrate a romantic rival of his brother's. He had seen Pietro become fat, weak, soft, and beardless with conspicuous breasts on his once manly chest. He wanted no part of this for himself. As his testicles were thrown away and his formerly virile member went numb, his entire masculine self image crumbled about him.Suddenly, he no longer cared whether he lived or died. Hour after hour, the castrations continued. By lunch time, only 14 operations had been performed. Dr. Peers sent a note to old Dr. Crossley whom he knew to have castrated masturbators before the "recent unpleasantness" between the North and South, and asked for his assistance. Dr. Crossley still practised, but had largely given up surgery. However, he came in response to Dr. Peers' note and decided that he could help out. Being of the old pre-anęsthesia school, he worked with lightning speed, though not very neatly. With two surgeons, the work went more quickly. It also helped that most of the boys had by now resigned themselves to their fate. A few swift kicks to the groin took the fight out of the trouble-makers. By 8:30 P.M., it was done. 33 sodomites would never experience sexual pleasure again. It was expected that this would send a clear loud message to the other boys that sodomy was FORBIDDEN. New inmates who started messing about with the younger boys were set straight immediately. The harm done to some of the younger inmates could not be undone, but it was not as severe nor as widespread as had at first been feared. |