Overview

• Thomas Allen McCartney, 37, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree rape of a 7-year-old and received a 40-year state prison sentence.
• A district judge ordered both surgical castration and concurrent chemical treatment as conditions of the agreement, according to court reporting.
• Prosecutors said McCartney was caught abusing the child in February 2023, fled armed, and was later found at a Houston hotel before being returned to Louisiana.
• Court and prosecutor records show prior arrests in 2006 and 2010 and a 2011 conviction that registered him as a level-3 sex offender.
• Louisiana’s law, championed by Governor Jeff Landry and effective August 1, 2024, has drawn legal and ethical objections from critics who argue it could constitute cruel or unusual punishment.