Should "dead-beat dads" have to be sterilised to get out jail? This one was.

 This man must get a vasectomy to get out of prison, and you’re about to find out why.

Meet one of the world’s worst deadbeat dads. Jessie Lee Herald is such a terrible father that he must undergo a vasectomy in order to get out of prison.

Herald, 27, who is from Virginia in the US, has fathered children with several women but nobody knows exactly how many kids he has. Even he doesn’t know.

He was imprisoned earlier this year after a hit and run offense on December 23, 2013. He was driving on a suspended licence with his three-year-old son in the car when he hit an embankment and rolled. He grabbed his son, who was bleeding, and fled the scene.

Herald took his son home, left him there alone and then fled on foot, narrowly avoiding the state police who were hot on his trail. The police found the boy and took him straight to hospital where he was treated. He was bloodied but not seriously injured.

The deadbeat dad turned himself into police about a week later. He had previous convictions including hit and run driving, unlawful wounding, possession of illegal drugs and obtaining money by false pretenses. He also has a history of not paying child support for his children, although it is thought that he has attempted to financially supported some.

So why has the judge allowed some an extreme action? Forced sterilisation as part of a plea deal is thought to be quite outdated. "He needs to be able to support the children he already has when he gets out," Shendandoah County assistant prosecutor Ilona White told the Northern Virginia Daily. "It was primarily due to the fact he had seven or eight children, all by different women, and we felt it might be in the Commonwealth's interest for that to be part of the plea agreement," she explained.

Apparently Herald was reluctant to agree to the deal but ended up signing in order to secure his release sooner.

The deadbeat dad has to undergo the operation within a year of being released from prison. He has to pay for the vasectomy himself which could cost up to $1000. He is also not allowed to have the procedure reversed while he is on probation.

Image courtesy of Shenandoah County police.

Do you think this plea deal is a good idea or is it ethically wrong?

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