Trial date set against men in illegal castration case

Derrick James, McAlester News-Capital, Okla.
·2 min read

May 20—A trial date was set for two southeast Oklahoma men accused of performing an illegal gender reassignment surgery at their residence.

District 16 Associate District Judge Marion Fry set Aug. 9, 2021 as the trial start date against Thomas Evans Gates, 43, and Bob Lee Allen, 53, both of Wister.

According to court documents, Allen and Gates are charged with felony conspiracy to commit unlicensed surgery, felony practicing medicine without a license/unlicensed surgery, felony maiming, misdemeanor failure to bury a dead human member, misdemeanor possession of controlled dangerous substance, and misdemeanor unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

Allen faces an additional felony charge of attempted distribution of a controlled dangerous substance and misdemeanor possession of dangerous drugs without a prescription.

An affidavit prepared by the LeFlore County Sheriff's Office in the case states a man was taken Oct. 14, 2020 to the McAlester Regional Health Center, where he told medical personnel he had a surgery to remove his testicles that was conducted by Allen and Gates at a Wister residence.

The man also told MRHC staff that Allen and Gates "tried to get him to participate in cannibalism," the affidavit states.

The man told investigators he met Allen while researching castrations on a website called www.the-em.com — which is short for EunuchMaker and states it is "for everybody into mods and kinks for all kinds."

Investigators wrote the man said he flew into the Dallas/Fort Worth airport on Oct. 11 and Allen drove them to the Wister residence.

The man told investigators he was awake for the two-hour surgery conducted by Allen with Gates handing over medical equipment with Allen telling the man after the surgery that he was going to consume the parts, the affidavit states.

Investigators were told the man woke up the next morning with a lot of bleeding and Allen told him "No ER, no morgue" before taking him to MRHC, the affidavit states.

During a search warrant executed on the residence on Oct. 15, 2020, investigators found a freezer "that contained a plastic Ziplock bag with what appeared to be testicles," a six-foot tall medicine cabinet full of various medications, medical utensils, mushrooms in pill bottles, a cautery tool with blood, xylocaine, and more.

Gates and Allen weren't at the residence during the execution of the search warrant but were later located and detained with assistance from the McAlester Police Department.

Contact Derrick James at djames@mcalesternews.com