Connect with us

Published

on

Paedophiles found guilty of a sex crime against a child in Louisiana could soon be ordered to undergo surgical castration in addition to prison time.

Politicians in the US state gave final approval to a bill on Monday that would allow judges to issue the order to those convicted of certain aggravated sex crimes against a child younger than 13.

These crimes include rape, incest and molestation.

If the bill becomes law, it can only be applied to men and women whose crime took place on or after 1 August this year.

Louisiana judges have had the power to order those convicted of such crimes to have chemical castration since 2008.

This method involves the use of drugs that block sex hormone production in order to decrease libido.

Surgical castration is a much more invasive procedure.

More from US

A handful of other states – including California, Florida and Texas – also already have laws in place allowing for the punishment of chemical castration.

In some of those states, offenders can opt for the surgical procedure if they prefer.

The National Conference of State Legislatures has said it is unaware of any states that allow judges to impose surgical castration outright.

Speaking during a committee hearing on the Louisiana bill in April, Republican state Senator Valarie Hodges said: “This is a consequence… It’s a step over and beyond just going to jail and getting out.”

The bill received overwhelming approval in both of the Republican-dominated chambers on Monday.

Votes against the bill mainly came from Democrats, however a politician from the party authored the measure.

The legislation now heads to the desk of conservative Governor Jeff Landry, who will decide whether to sign it into law or veto it.

Currently, there are 2,224 people imprisoned in Louisiana for sex crimes against children younger than 13.

The sponsor of the bill, Democratic state Senator Regina Barrow, has said it would be an extra step in punishment for horrific crimes. She hopes the legislation will serve as a deterrent to help prevent such offences against children.

“We are talking about babies who are being violated by somebody,” Ms Barrow said during an April committee meeting.

“That is inexcusable.”

Read more US news
Biden issues statement ahead of son’s criminal trial
Stormy Daniels urges Melania to leave Trump
Necklace ‘saves man’s life’ after stopping bullet

While castration is often associated with men, Ms Barrow said the law could be applied to women, too.

She also stressed that imposing the punishment would be by individual cases and at the discretion of judges. The punishment is not automatic.

If an offender “fails to appear or refuses to undergo” surgical castration after a judge orders the procedure, they could be hit with “failure to comply” charge and face an additional three to five years in prison, according to the bill.

The legislation also stipulates that a medical expert must “determine whether that offender is an appropriate candidate” for the procedure before it’s carried out.

Very few offenders have been ordered to undergo chemical castration under Louisiana’s existing law.

Officials have said they could only think of one or two cases between 2010 and 2019.

The bill, and chemical castration bills, have received pushback, with opponents saying it is “cruel and unusual punishment” and questioned the effectiveness of the procedure.

Additionally some Louisiana politicians have questioned if the punishment was too harsh for someone who may have a single offence.

“For me, when I think about a child, one time is too many,” Ms Barrow responded.

Continue Reading

US

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs ‘kidnapped aide at gunpoint’ to confront rival rapper Kid Cudi, court hears

Published

on

By

Sean 'Diddy' Combs 'kidnapped aide at gunpoint' to confront rival rapper Kid Cudi, court hears

Sean “Diddy” Combs kidnapped a former aide at gunpoint to join him as he attempted to confront love rival rapper Kid Cudi, his sex-trafficking trial has been told.

Capricorn Clark, who worked for the Bad Boy Records co-founder in different roles on and off for several years, told the court he banged on her door and told her: “Get dressed, we’re going to kill Mescudi.”

Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, last week testified himself about the alleged incident in December 2011.

Ms Clark became tearful a few times as she gave evidence – which marked the start of the third week of the high-profile trial. She told the court her situation working for the hip-hop mogul was “complicated”.

Combs, 55, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution, is accused of subjecting his former long-term partner Cassie and others to years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Day 10 – as it happened

Sean 'Diddy' Combs watches as his former assistant Capricorn Clark is questioned by prosecutor Mitzi Steiner at his sex trafficking trial in New York on 27 May 2025. Pic: Jane Rosenberg via Reuters
Image:
Ms Clark became tearful a few times as she gave evidence. Pic: Jane Rosenberg via Reuters

While giving her own evidence in the first week of the trial, Cassie told jurors she dated Cudi briefly during a difficult period in her on-off relationship with Combs.

On Tuesday, Ms Clark said she warned Cassie about seeing Cudi, saying she took her to buy a burner phone as she thought it could be dangerous given how Combs might react. “The way she was moving, she was going to get us all killed,” Ms Clark said.

Combs arrived at her home with a gun in his hand on the morning of the attempted confrontation with Cudi, she told the court, and looked “furious”.

She says she told him she did not want to go with him, to which he allegedly replied: “I don’t give a f**k what you want to do.”

Rapper Kid Cudi leaves Federal Court after testifying at the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs in New York, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Image:
Rapper Kid Cudi gave evidence last week. Pic: AP/ Richard Drew

Ms Clark said she had never seen “anything like this before”, but got dressed and left with Combs in a black Cadillac to head to the property in the Hollywood Hills.

She said she waited in the car as Combs went into the residence, and called Cassie to warn her. The rapper had her “with a gun and brought me to Cudi’s house to kill him”, she said she told her.

Cudi could be heard in the background of the call, she said, asking: “He’s in my house?”

After the incident, Ms Clark alleged Combs warned her and Cassie not to speak to police and threatened to “kill all you” if they did not convince Cudi not to either.

In the aftermath of this incident, Ms Clark alleged Combs “came at” Cassie with “100% full force”, repeatedly kicking her while she crouched “more and more” into a foetal position and cried “silently”.

The rapper told Ms Clark that if she tried to intervene, “he was going to f**k me up too”, she said.

Janice Combs, mother of Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrives at court.
Pic: Reuters
Image:
Diddy’s mother Janice Combs was in court to support him again. Pic: Reuters

Earlier in her testimony, she told the court about the start of her employment with Combs and his label Bad Boy Records in 2004.

She said after he discovered she had previously worked for Marion “Suge” Knight’s Death Row Records – the West Coast rival to East Coast Bad Boy – he told her “if anything happened, he would have to kill me”.

Ms Clark said she perceived this as a “very serious” threat. She also told the court about another alleged incident just a few weeks into the job, when some diamond jewellery on loan to Combs went missing.

She told the court she was taken to a building in Manhattan and forced to repeatedly take lie detector tests over five days.

Sean "Diddy" Combs speaks with his legal team before court begins for the day at Combs' sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, U.S., May 27, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg
Image:
Combs with his legal team before court began for the day. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg


The man who carried out the test told her that if she failed, “they’re going to throw you in the East River”, she said.

Combs was not present for the tests and never spoke to her about them, she said, when questioned by defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo.

During her testimony, Ms Clark mentioned an incident involving fellow rapper 50 Cent’s manager, after both 50 Cent and Combs had done interviews for MTV.

Combs mentioned to the manager that they had some issues and told him, “I like guns”, she said, which she perceived as a vague threat.

Read more:
Everything you need to know about the Sean Combs trial
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

Ms Clark also described attempting to leave Combs’s home in Miami on one occasion in 2006, when she was allegedly told to “get the f**k back here” by the rapper.

According to Ms Clark, he told her: “Your problem is you want a life, and you can’t have that here.”

The trial continues tomorrow, with evidence expected from LA police and fire officers.

If convicted, Combs could face between 15 years and life in prison.

Continue Reading

US

‘I wish I’d never met him’: Peter Mandelson ‘regrets’ association with Jeffrey Epstein

Published

on

By

'I wish I'd never met him': Peter Mandelson 'regrets' association with Jeffrey Epstein

Peter Mandelson, the UK ambassador to the United States, has told Sky News he “regrets” his association with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Lord Mandelson‘s links to the late billionaire were exposed in a 2019 report by JP Morgan bank, filed in a New York court.

Epstein killed himself in August of that year while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking minors.

He had previously served an 18-month sentence after pleading guilty to procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution.

Whilst serving that sentence, the JP Morgan report suggests that Mr Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan flat.

Epstein wrote to his private banker on 17 June 2009: “Peter will be staying at 71st over weekend…”

At the time, Lord Mandelson was the Business Secretary in the UK government under then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He was appointed UK ambassador to the United States in December 2024.

Jeffrey Epstein. File pic: New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP
Image:
Jeffrey Epstein. File pic: New York State Sex Offender Registry via AP

Sky News asked him if he did, indeed, stay at Epstein’s flat while the disgraced financier was in jail.

He replied: “I’m not answering any questions about him. My knowledge of him is something I regret, I wish I’d never met him in the first place.”

Asked why he had an association with Epstein whilst he was in jail, Lord Mandelson replied: “Why did many people meet him? He was a prolific networker. And I wish I’d never met him in the first place.”

Read more from Sky News:
Manhunt after two people shot dead in US park
Kremlin accused Trump of ’emotional overload’

As US ambassador, Lord Mandelson represents Britain’s interests in Washington and has vowed to treat Donald Trump‘s administration with “respect, seriousness and understanding of where they are coming from politically”.

This comes after Lord Mandelson described the US president as a “danger to the world”, for which he apologised earlier this year.

He told the Alain Elkann Interviews podcast in 2019: “What Donald Trump represents and believes is an anathema to mainstream British opinion.”

President Donald Trump, center, with from l-r., Vice President JD Vance, and Britian's ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson, making remarks on a trade deal between U.S. and U.K. in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Image:
US President Donald Trump, vice president JD Vance, and UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson. Pic: AP

Mr Mandelson added: “Even those who have a sneaking admiration for Donald Trump because of his personality, nonetheless regard him as reckless, and a danger to the world.”

But in January this year, Lord Mandelson said he now considered his remarks “as ill-judged and wrong”.

Continue Reading

US

Two killed and nine injured in Philadelphia shooting

Published

on

By

Two killed and nine injured in Philadelphia shooting

Two people have been killed and nine injured in a shooting in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park on Memorial Day.

Police said a large number of people were gathered near Lemon Hill Drive and Sedgley Drive at around 10.30pm local time on Monday when shots were fired.

A man and a woman were killed, and three teenagers – aged 15, 16 and 17 – were among the injured, all of whom were said to be in a stable condition.

“We have not recovered any weapons at this time,” a police officer told reporters.

“This is significant. It’s Memorial Day… we understand the significance of this event and we will make sure to provide an update on Tuesday.”

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States, usually observed on the last Monday of May.

The day is dedicated to honouring and mourning military personnel who have died in the performance of their duties.

Read more from Sky News:
Liverpool parade collision: What we know so far
Nurse struck off after filming men and child in Asda toilets

Follow The World
Follow The World

Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday

Tap to follow

Police said they have made no arrests so far and they have not yet released information on any suspects.

Fairmount Park was closed late on Monday evening following the shooting.

Continue Reading

Trending