Man Who Performed Backyard Castrations on Voluntary Eunuchs Released from Prison

An Australian electrician who filmed himself performing backyard castrations, and who was found to have an old man’s severed testicle in his freezer, has been handed a suspended sentence and will be released from jail on probation.

Ryan Andrew King, 28, was arrested by Queensland police last year and charged with “acts intended to maim” based on allegations that he performed “consensual surgery” on a 26-year-old Chinese national at a backpacker’s hostel in Brisbane. That person had to be hospitalised after having their testicle cut off – but after discovering they weren’t eligible for Australia’s public health insurance scheme they contacted King, who called paramedics and admitted to performing the surgery.

While conducting a subsequent search of King’s home, police seized a number of medical tools and discovered a severed testicle in his freezer. That belonged to a 65-year-old man from Victoria, whom King had castrated at a motel in Loganholme in 2019, according to the Australian Associated Press. King had also severed this man’s other testicle and penis in 2018, but since that procedure was performed in Victoria it is not the subject of charges in Queensland.

The court was told that King met both patients on a eunuch-interest website, where he advertised castration services, and that they had sought him out for the “backyard surgeries” in lieu of any legal avenue for the procedures. The 65-year-old said he had suffered from genitalia dysphoria, and was “eternally grateful to Ryan for enabling me to enjoy life.” The 26-year-old wanted to be gender neutral and had “wanted to be a eunuch” ever since they were a child. Following the surgery, they flushed their severed testicle down a toilet so that it could not be retrieved and re-attached.

“Both had an interest in having their genitals removed,” said Prosecutor Edward Coker, noting that they consented to the castrations and allowed King – who they did not pay – to film the procedures and post the footage online, the ABC reported.

Coker insisted, however, that consent was not a defence.

“Conduct that is going to be invasive, resulting in the removal of a body part carries with it such an obvious and serious risk of complications and indeed death. That is the conduct that needs to be deterred,” he said.

King has no formal medical qualifications, and is believed to have taught himself how to castrate people by looking it up on the internet. His defence lawyer Chris Wilson claimed his client knew it was illegal to perform the surgery unqualified, but did not believe he would be charged if it was consensual. The court also heard it was intended that both patients would end up in hospital following the surgeries.

“The desire was... that they be taken by the defendant beyond the point of no return... so they could not be repaired,” Wilson said.

Wilson further noted that King suffers from several medical conditions including ADHD and Asperger’s syndrome. When he appeared before Brisbane Magistrates Court last year, King’s defence lawyer also claimed he had been bullied as a student at a private boys’ school and had Klinefelter syndrome: a genetic condition that occurs when a boy is born with an extra X chromosome, and which may affect genital growth and result in “smaller than normal” testicles.

King pleaded guilty to both charges of committing malicious acts with intent.

It was previously reported that police were investigating the existence of an underground fetish scene in Brisbane, in which men allegedly volunteer to have parts of their genitals removed. Queensland police confirmed to VICE World News that the investigation into the scene was isolated to this incident, but declined to comment any further.

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