This article originally appeared on the Daily Caller News Foundation and was republished with permission.

A Louisiana judge sentenced a convicted sex offender to castration for a second-degree rape charge April 7, according to KTBS.

Caddo District Judge Ramona Emanuel sentenced Floyd Lee Cathron, 61, to castration after he was convicted of rape involving a teenage family member in March, according to KTBS. Cathron will decide if he receives surgical or chemical castration and will be officially sentenced on April 20. Emanuel factored Cathron’s four felony convictions into her decision. Prosecutors said the latest conviction fits a pattern of sex crimes toward children by the convict going back more than 20 years, among them prior rape and incest offenses.

Cathron also faces up to 40 years hard labor and registration as a sex offender for life, the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office (CPDAO) said in a press release. He faces heightened sentencing due to previous convictions for aggravated incest, aggravated rape and two counts of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile.

A jury issued a unanimous guilty verdict against Cathron on March 18 following testimony from multiple people, including the victim, the district attorney’s office said. The CPDAO said it would pursue castration due to his criminal history and latest conviction.

Local residents spoke to KTBS and reacted to the possibility of Cathron becoming the first man locally to face surgical castration ahead of his April 7 hearing.

“If you’re going to harm people, you shouldn’t be allowed to possibly procreate. Getting someone pregnant through rape should never be an option,” one woman, who asked for anonymity, said.

A man at a local barbershop offered a different sentiment. “He committed some heinous crimes, but the system didn’t rehabilitate him. At 61, a life sentence in prison is already severe. I don’t think castration would do anything more to protect society,” the man, also not identified, said.

CPDAO public information officer Ivy Woodward explained the attorney’s office’s stance, according to the outlet. “He was already convicted of child molestation. And anytime you have a defendant who has raped a child under the age of 13, the law allows for this type of sentencing,” she said.

Cathron was arrested Dec. 5, 2024 following a police investigation after a 16-year-old girl alleged she was sexually assaulted, KSLA previously reported.

Louisiana passed Act 561 in 2024, which allows judges to sentence those convicted of aggravating sex crimes, including aggravated rape of someone under 13 years old, according to the Shreveport Times.

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