SEBRING, Fla. — A Sebring man faces a charge of practicing medicine without a license after deputies say he botched a castration procedure on another man.
The Highlands County Sheriff's Office said they responded to a 911 hang-up at a home in Sebring and found a man on a bed with a towel over his groin, which was bleeding heavily. Deputies say there was a pink container with two body parts inside near the man.
Deputies say the man was taken to the hospital and later flown to a regional medical center. He's now stable.
The sheriff's office said the man who answered the door was 74-year-old Gary Van Ryswyk, who told deputies he had just done a castration on a man. Deputies said Ryswyk told them he had met the other man on a website on the dark web for people who have a castration fetish.
Deputies said Ryswyk had told the other man he had experience doing the procedure on animals and had removed one of his own testicles in 2012.
According to the sheriff's office, the room was set up like a surgical center with medical equipment and painkillers. There was also a camera set up to record the procedure, deputies said.
Ryswyk reportedly tried to perform the procedure on the man a week ago, but deputies said he had to delay it. Ryswyk also told deputies he had done a similar procedure on a man a few years ago at a local motel.
Ryswyk was arrested Monday and charged with practicing medicine without a license resulting in bodily injury. His bond was set at $250,000.
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