A judge ruled this week that a Louisiana man convicted of raping a girl under the age of 13 will be chemically castrated in addition to serving 35 years in prison.

According to Tangipahoa Parish District Attorney Scott Perrilloux, Ryan Clark, 34, was also ordered to have no contact with the victim, register as a lifelong sexual offender, and forfeit all parental rights to any children.

On March 1, Kentwood resident Clark pled guilty to second-degree rape, molestation of a child under 13 and sexual battery.

Tuesday, he was sentenced by Judge Brian Ables.

WVUE reports that chemical castration became legal in Louisiana in 2008 as a punishment for certain crimes, including molestation of a minor, aggravated rape, forcible rape, second-degree sexual battery, aggravated incest, and aggravated crime against nature.

According to the source, the process involves injections of medroxyprogesterone acetate, a drug that suppresses a man’s libido by depleting testosterone levels.

The injections must be administered at least one week prior to the release of a convicted sex offender.

According to the DA, an investigation into Clark began in July 2020 after the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office was informed of “inappropriate behaviour” between Clark and a minor by a confidant of the victim. The individual told authorities that the behaviour had persisted for over a year.

Perrilloux stated that the victim was interviewed at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Hammond, where she described the incidents.

During the investigation, a second possible victim was also uncovered.

No additional details about the incidents were made available.

Clark was arrested and charged with sexual battery and child molestation on July 17, 2020. Following additional investigation, he was charged with first-degree rape.

The convicted rapist was convicted of misdemeanour carnal knowledge of a juvenile in 2015 for receiving oral sex from a minor in a public place. He stayed in the Tangipahoa Parish Jail for 128 days.