Castrator pleads guilty

The Edmonton Sun, Friday, June, 29, 2001

   FORT  QU'APPELLE,  Sask.  (CP)  --  A
Saskatchewan  man who agreed to castrate
another  man  who  wanted a  sex  change
pleaded  guilty  yesterday to a  reduced
charge  of  unlawfully   causing  bodily
harm.
   Gary Gillingwater,  a 57-year-old man
who  is  not a  doctor,  was  originally
charged  with  aggravated  assault   and
criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
   The victim, a 28-year-old Alberta man
who cannot be named  under court  order,
had to be  rushed to  a Regina  hospital
hours after the procedure May 11 when he
began bleeding heavily.
   Court heard the Alberta man met
Gillingwater  on the  Internet  and paid
$100 to have his testicles removed.
   Gillingwater  was  given an  18-month
suspended    sentence   and   has   been
prohibited  from  using the  Internet at
his home.
   Gillingwater  maintains  he was  just
trying   to  help   the  man   who   was
"desperate"   to  have   a  sex   change
operation.
   The  Alberta  man was  released  from
Regina's  Pasqua  hospital on  May 14 in
good condition.