Anti-libido drug available to convicted rapist
A convicted Kamloops rapist could be put on anti-libido medications to lower his sex drive — if he doesn’t mind growing breasts.
Dennis Wayne Bragg was in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops on Monday, June 25, for a long-term offender hearing. Bragg was convicted in 2010 of forcibly confining and sexually assaulting a pregnant, mentally challenged prostitute he had picked up on Tranquille Road.
In 2002, he was convicted following a similar crime in New Brunswick.
In that instance, Bragg tied up a woman and forced her to have sex with him numerous times.
Following the conviction in Kamloops, the Crown applied to have Bragg declared a long-term offender — meaning he would be kept under close supervision in the community for up to a decade after being released from jail.
Court heard testimony from Akesh Lamba, a Vancouver-based forensic psychologist and an expert in using libido-inhibiting drugs to treat sex offenders.
Lamba said the treatment is rare, with a “very small” number of sex offenders taking anti-libido medication.
That might have something to do with the side effects.
In addition to bone-thinning, weight gain, mood swings, decreased liver function and possible diabetes, Lamba said, the meds also cause gynecomastia — men growing breasts.
“That is very objectionable to most inmates and, in my experience, one of the most common reasons inmates decline this medication,” he said.
The drug — Lupron — is used to treat prostate cancer. Lamba said forensic psychologists sometimes prescribe it “off-label” as a libido inhibitor.
Court heard it reduces testosterone levels to virtually nil, which lowers the patient’s sex drive considerably.
“It would decrease the level of pre-occupation this person has with sexual matters,” Lamba said. “That does have the effect of lowering the likelihood of sexual recidivism.”
In addition to Lupron, Lamba said, Bragg could also be put on anti-depression medication. Those drugs are also known to cause decreased libido.
Bragg is already taking a mild testosterone-inhibiting medication.
Bragg was sentenced to six years in jail for the 2002 conviction in New Brunswick. He has yet to be sentenced for his 2010 conviction in Kamloops, but has been in custody for more than two years.
A long-term offender designation begins after a criminal is done serving his or her jail sentence, and involves a long-term supervision order — as long as 10 years — in the community.
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