Man who tried to rape 7-year-old agrees to be castrated as part of plea deal

VERNON PARISH, La. (KPLC/Gray News) - A Louisiana man agreed to be physically and chemically castrated as part of a plea deal.

Thirty-seven-year-old Thomas Allen McCartney, of Leesville, pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted first-degree rape of a child under the age of 13.

As part of the plea deal, McCartney also agreed to serve 40 years in state prison, according to the Vernon Parish District Attorney’s Office.

When McCartney was arrested in 2023, authorities said he had been caught sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl. He was already a Tier 3 sex offender in Louisiana, having been previously convicted of attempted aggravated rape in 2011. He was also arrested on one count of felony carnal knowledge of a juvenile in 2006 and on two counts of aggravated rape of a 12-year-old in 2010.

“This is a horrific crime that never should have happened. Thomas McCartney is a predator that needs to locked away from others in our community,” Vernon Parish District Attorney Terry Lambright.