by Gina Kolata

About the author: Gina Kolata is an author and a reporter for the New York Times.

The California solution for child molesters sounds so simple—just castrate them, or make them take a chemical that takes away their sex drive, and they will offend no more. The plan comes at a time when both political parties are vying to see who can be toughest on crime. And it targets the criminals Americans find most disgusting.

But as the California legislature sends its bill on child molesters to the Governor [Pete Wilson signed the law and it went into effect in January 1997], mental health experts who treat sex offenders and legal experts who deal with them say that, alas, it’s not so simple. Leaving aside the...