Man sentenced to physical castration, 50 years in prison for multiple counts of raping an underage girl and impregnating her

LIVINGSTON, LA - In addition to his sentence, a 21st Judicial District Court judge has ordered a 54-year-old man to be physically castrated as part of his guilty plea for the rape of a 14-year-old girl that resulted in a pregnancy.

In a Facebook post, District Attorney Scott Perrilloux's office announced that 54-year-old Glenn Sullivan of Springfield, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, April 17th, to four counts of second-degree rape. Sullivan was sentenced to 50 years in prison and physical castration. 

According to the DA, the case stems from a July 2022 Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office investigation. The post stated, "A young woman told detectives that Sullivan had raped her multiple times when she was just 14-years-old. As a result, the juvenile became pregnant and a DNA test that was ordered during the course of the criminal investigation proved Sullivan had impregnated her."

Throughout their investigation, "Detectives also learned that Sullivan had groomed the victim and used threats of violence against her and her family to prevent the young woman from disclosing the rapes."

In a statement, Assistant District Attorney Brad Cascio said, "Sex crimes against juveniles are the most malicious crimes we prosecute. I intend on using every tool the legislature is willing to give us, including physical castration, to seek justice for the children in our community."

DA Perrilloux applauded the victim for courageously coming forward to file the charges. He said, "So many of these types of cases go unreported because of fear. The strength it must have taken for this young woman to tell the truth in the face of threats and adversity is truly incredible."

According to CBS News, a 2008 Louisiana law says that men convicted of certain rape offenses may be sentenced to chemical castration. They can also elect to be physically castrated. Perrilloux said that Sullivan's plea requires he be physically castrated. According to the law, the process will be carried out by the state's Department of Correction, but it cannot be conducted more than a week before a person's prison sentence ends. 

Per the law, Sullivan technically would not be castrated until a week before the end of his 50-year sentence. At that time, he would be over 100 years old. According to WBRZ, a spokesperson for the Department of Correction said they could not comment on this particular sentencing, but said that surgical castration is "very rare." Cascio said, "It has to be done no later than one week prior to his release date, so they could do it immediately or they could wait."

He said, "I want to say I've had three people ordered to be chemically castrated but, to my knowledge, this is the first physical castration to be ordered." Cascio said that he pushed for the sentence due to Sullivan's criminal history and the severity of the case, adding, "I felt that this case was a strong enough case and warranted such action." 

On Tuesday, April 23rd, a bill authored by Senator Regina Barrow that would allow a judge to order surgical castration without the defendant's consent if the victim is under the age of 13 was returned back to the calendar. In its current form, the bill allows the punishment for non-violent sex crimes like child pornography and video voyeurism.