Dutch church castrations investigated

The Dutch government says it will investigate claims a number of boys and young men were castrated in the 1950s by the Roman Catholic Church. The church allegedly used the castrations as a treatment for homosexuality, but in at least one case a castration occurred after a boy claimed he was abused by priests, the British newspaper The Telegraph reported Tuesday. Marnix Koolhaas, a Dutch historian, told the Volkskrant newspaper the castrations were not unusual at the time. One victim, identified as Henk Heithuis, was allegedly castrated in 1956 after he accused Catholic priests of sexually abusing him. Heithuis allegedly was sent to a Catholic psychiatric hospital where he was castrated. He later died in a car crash. The New York Times said the castrations were not included in the findings of a government investigation last year into church abuse, despite the committee having been presented with evidence of the Heithuis case. Officials in the Netherlands say they will investigate the alleged castration.