
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 7, 1992                   TAG: 9203070027
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HOUSTON                                LENGTH: Short

CHILD MOLESTER TAKES CASTRATION OVER PRISON TERM

A judge Friday approved a child molester's request to be surgically castrated rather than go to prison on a charge of raping a 13-year-old girl last year.

State District Judge Mike McSpadden approved the request from Steven Allen Butler, 28, who volunteered after reading about the judge's support of castration for some sex offenders.

Bill Hawkins, an assistant Harris County prosecutor, said the victim's family, who knows Butler, approved of castration to spare the girl from testifying at a trial.

At a hearing Friday, Butler did not enter a plea to a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child, which carries a penalty of five to 99 years or life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Butler will be placed on a form of probation for 10 years after he undergoes castration. If he stays out of trouble during that time, the charge will be dropped.

At the time he was arrested, Butler was serving 10 years' probation after pleading guilty to indecency with a 7-year-old girl.

by CNB