A man who cut off the testicles of two men in a “backyard surgery” designed to make them eunuchs has been released from custody.
Ryan Andrew King was given a suspended sentence.Source:Supplied
On Friday, Brisbane’s District Court heard how Ryan Andrew King, 28, cut off the testicles of two men, one in Loganholme in September 2019 and the other in Brisbane in July 2020, after they had contacted him via a website designed for genital mutilation.
Prosecutor Edward Coker said King, who was charged with grievous bodily harm, was contacted first by a 65-year-old Victorian man on the website and they arranged to remove one of his testicles and penis, which was done in Victoria.
The man again contacted King later in the year and asked to remove his remaining testicle, which occurred in Queensland.
Mr Coker said King was also contacted via the website by a 26-year-old Chinese national, who had come to Australia on a working visa and wanted to be a eunuch. A price range of between $500 and $1000 was discussed by King and the Chinese man, but they instead agreed for King to film the surgery and upload it to the website. The court heard King had told the man he had performed the surgery up to 10 times previously.
The surgeries were agreed to be performed to “beyond the point” of being repaired, and the victims would later go to hospital after continual bleeding.
“Any type of backyard surgery that’s going to be invasive, resulting in the removal of a body part, carries with it such an obvious and significant risk of complications and indeed death and that is conduct that needs to be deterred,” Mr Coker said. Mr Coker said police later found a testicle that King had kept in his home after the first operation.
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King’s lawyer, Christopher Wilson, said the two victims had agreed and the procedures were consensual, and his client had not gained financially from the surgeries. In a statement, one of the men acknowledged he had consented, saying “in summary, I am eternally grateful to Ryan for enabling me to enjoy life”.
King had a range of conditions including ADHD and a chromosomal condition but no criminal history. When interviewed by police, he told them he did not know he had committed an offence in relation to grievous bodily harm.
Ryan Andrew King cut off penises without formal surgical qualifications. Credit: Supplied
Judge Richard Jones said King, an electrician, was an intelligent man and must have “known what he was doing was against the law”. “You were clearly not authorised or indeed qualified to perform what you did. You are an electrician by trade,” he said.
Judge Jones said King had an “extremely troubled childhood” but there was no evidence of psychosis.
For the first victim, King was sentenced to 355 days in prison, but released on a probation period of three years.
For the second, he was sentenced to 31⁄2 years in prison, with the sentence suspended from Friday.
Both sentences were to be served concurrently, with the 355 days he was in custody to be considered time served.
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