Last week three
men in Waynesville, N.C., were arrested and charged with
felony castration, maiming without malice, and practicing
medicine without a license after local authorities
discovered they were operating a sadomasochistic
dungeon in their home. In what may be the first case of
its kind in the state, the men, apparently lovers, performed
castration surgeries on at least six men they
initially met online, reports the Asheville Citizen-Times.
According to investigators, the victims, who
were castrated willingly, participated in the
surgeries, which occurred between June 2004 and
November 2005. The local sheriff's office first became aware
of events at the house last year when they came
across a Web site with images of the men engaging
in sadomasochistic acts, which, if consensual, are not illegal.
But last week the district attorney received a
tip that castration was also taking place at the
house, so he obtained a search warrant and found the
gruesome evidence of the amateur surgeries.
Two of the three men arrested worked at Harrah's
Cherokee Casino on the nearby Cherokee Indian
Reservation. They are each being held on a $150,000
bond. (The Advocate)