CustomsCop
10-12-2001, 12:09
Texas Justice???
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Self-castrated child molester faces life sentence
By Jason Spencer
American-Statesman Staff
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
A confessed child molester who castrated himself with a shotgun no longer poses a threat and deserves leniency, his lawyer told a Travis County jury Tuesday.
Milton Wayne Somers, 45, already has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two sisters, now ages 9 and 10, in Austin from 1995 until 1999.
The jury of eight men and four women will decide Somers' punishment, which could be life in prison.
Somers' lawyer, Steve Turro, told the jury that Somers suffers from bipolar disorder and was "unable to control basic impulses."
That changed last November, Turro said.
"Mr. Somers put a shotgun between his legs and he blew off his testicles," Turro said in his opening statement. "He shot once, he reloaded, and he shot again."
The act ended Somers' desire to molest children, Turro said.
"He has not had any sexual urges since he castrated himself," Turro said.
Police already were investigating Somers, who now lives in Cut and Shoot near Conroe, when he shot himself. Officers arrested him three months later.
Prosecutor Ann Perry told the jury that Somers continued to molest the girls even after he received counseling for sex offenders.
"You're going to come to one conclusion, and that is that the defendant is a candidate for residency in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice," Perry said.
Somers told his ex-wife that he shot himself to avoid going to prison, according to the ex-wife, who visited him afterward at a Conroe hospital.
"It would show that he felt bad over what happened to the girls and . . . it would help keep him from doing time because he wouldn't be a threat anymore," said the woman, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of the victims.
Somers worked in Austin during most of the 1990s and knew both of the girls.
In May, he pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, one count of indecency with a child by contact and three counts of indecency with a child by exposure. Somers remains free on $80,000 bail while the jury hears the case.
Clutching small stuffed animals, both girls took the witness stand Tuesday to testify about the abuse.
The younger sister told jurors she vomited six times Tuesday before testifying.
Somers sat upright and stared forward, away from the girls, as they testified. His mother sat behind him in the courtroom.
Somers admitted having sexual contact with the girls, and in January 1998, he agreed to talk about it on tape with his then-wife. During the conversation, which was played for the jury, Somers said the girls initiated the contact.
Somers began seeing Dr. Richard Reynolds, an Austin therapist for sex offenders, shortly after the admission.
Reynolds testified that Somers seemed to make progress while taking medication for bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and obsessive thoughts. Somers told the therapist he was sexually abused as a boy.
"Wayne was motivated in treatment when his guilt would overwhelm him," Reynolds said. "He would have a very difficult time controlling himself off the medication."
Somers stopped going to treatment in September 1999 and moved to Cut and Shoot, Reynolds said. By 1999, he was molesting the girls again, witnesses testified.
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Self-castrated child molester faces life sentence
By Jason Spencer
American-Statesman Staff
Wednesday, October 10, 2001
A confessed child molester who castrated himself with a shotgun no longer poses a threat and deserves leniency, his lawyer told a Travis County jury Tuesday.
Milton Wayne Somers, 45, already has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two sisters, now ages 9 and 10, in Austin from 1995 until 1999.
The jury of eight men and four women will decide Somers' punishment, which could be life in prison.
Somers' lawyer, Steve Turro, told the jury that Somers suffers from bipolar disorder and was "unable to control basic impulses."
That changed last November, Turro said.
"Mr. Somers put a shotgun between his legs and he blew off his testicles," Turro said in his opening statement. "He shot once, he reloaded, and he shot again."
The act ended Somers' desire to molest children, Turro said.
"He has not had any sexual urges since he castrated himself," Turro said.
Police already were investigating Somers, who now lives in Cut and Shoot near Conroe, when he shot himself. Officers arrested him three months later.
Prosecutor Ann Perry told the jury that Somers continued to molest the girls even after he received counseling for sex offenders.
"You're going to come to one conclusion, and that is that the defendant is a candidate for residency in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice," Perry said.
Somers told his ex-wife that he shot himself to avoid going to prison, according to the ex-wife, who visited him afterward at a Conroe hospital.
"It would show that he felt bad over what happened to the girls and . . . it would help keep him from doing time because he wouldn't be a threat anymore," said the woman, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of the victims.
Somers worked in Austin during most of the 1990s and knew both of the girls.
In May, he pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, one count of indecency with a child by contact and three counts of indecency with a child by exposure. Somers remains free on $80,000 bail while the jury hears the case.
Clutching small stuffed animals, both girls took the witness stand Tuesday to testify about the abuse.
The younger sister told jurors she vomited six times Tuesday before testifying.
Somers sat upright and stared forward, away from the girls, as they testified. His mother sat behind him in the courtroom.
Somers admitted having sexual contact with the girls, and in January 1998, he agreed to talk about it on tape with his then-wife. During the conversation, which was played for the jury, Somers said the girls initiated the contact.
Somers began seeing Dr. Richard Reynolds, an Austin therapist for sex offenders, shortly after the admission.
Reynolds testified that Somers seemed to make progress while taking medication for bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and obsessive thoughts. Somers told the therapist he was sexually abused as a boy.
"Wayne was motivated in treatment when his guilt would overwhelm him," Reynolds said. "He would have a very difficult time controlling himself off the medication."
Somers stopped going to treatment in September 1999 and moved to Cut and Shoot, Reynolds said. By 1999, he was molesting the girls again, witnesses testified.