Florida man who castrated another man he met on eunuch fetish website arrested for performing botched surgery
HIGHLANDS COUNTY, FLORIDA: A 74-year-old Florida man was arrested for performing an illegal castration surgery on another man who he had met on a fetish website for eunuchs, police said on Tuesday, August 20.
Gary Van Ryswyk allegedly performed the botched procedure around 10 pm Sunday despite not having a license to practice medicine.
He performed the surgery just a week after he met his 53-year-old victim on eunuch.com, a website for people with a castration fetish, the Daily Mail reported.
According to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office, when an officer reached Van Ryswyk's residence just before midnight, he revealed to him that he had "just performed a castration on a man."
The 74-year-old then led the cop to a room where the victim, who is from Tampa but cannot be identified, was bleeding heavily with a towel over his groin.
The deputy was shocked to find the man's testicles in a pink container near the bed.
The victim was immediately rushed to a hospital and later airlifted to a regional medical center for further medical attention.
Authorities said he is currently listed in stable condition.
According to a police report, the room where the man was found was apparently set up like a surgical center, with medical equipment, painkillers, et cetera.
"There was also a camera set up to record the procedure," the responding officer said.
Deputies learned from Van Ryswyk that he had conversations with the other man about the procedure on the aforementioned website.
During the discussion, he allegedly reassured the victim saying he had experience on bulls and animals as he spent his childhood living on a farm.
Authorities also found Van Ryswyk had removed one of his own testicles in 2012.
He told investigators that while he was sanitizing the man's penis, he became aroused and ejaculated, thereby delaying the procedure, per BuzzFeed News.
Van Ryswyk also confessed to police that he had performed a similar procedure a few years ago on a man after they met at a local motel.
According to him, that operation also turned out just as bad as his recent activities.
While he said he couldn't remember the man's name, he recalled the victim had gone to a nearby hospital but did not notify law enforcement.
That said, Van Ryswyk was charged with practicing medicine without a license, that, in turn, resulted in a charge of bodily injury, which is a second-degree felony.
He's currently being held in lieu of a $250,000 bond.