A once-confidential agreement reveals a shadowy research project focused on treating sexual offenders using experimental methods.
The plan was simple-secure cooperation from state and city officials, and conduct a year-long study under minimal scrutiny.
The language of the document is clinical. But the implications are stark.
"A research program aimed at discovering new methods of attacking the growing problem of criminality with particular emphasis on the care and treatment of the sexually deviated offender."
🧾 The Deal Behind Closed Doors
The document is not an academic proposal.
It is a contract.
One that authorizes the transfer of funds, the organization of a research team and the launch of human experimentation.
It included:
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A year-long program, fully funded by a private sponsor
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Cash payments issued by cashier’s check
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Receipts and monthly expense reports required-but no mention of ethical oversight
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Materials like drugs and recording equipment to be "furnished" directly, not bought from project funds
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Classified storage arrangements included-"a safe for this purpose will be furnished"
"I will enlist the aid of several professional men… and organize a research team to carry out carefully planned scientific experiments…"
The project would be run with the cooperation of local and state authorities.
But the contract places all scientific control in the hands of the unnamed lead investigator.
⚖️ A Focus on Deviance
The stated target of the research was not general crime but "sexually deviated offenders."
This term, common in the mid-20th century, often included individuals charged with homosexuality, pedophilia, or rape-grouped under one broad label of deviance.
The document doesn’t specify treatment methods.
But the language strongly suggests experimental intervention.
It was not merely observation or data collection-it was active, behavioral, and possibly pharmacological.
"I will secure the cooperation of state and city officials in order that the planned research can be carried out in the most advantageous setting."
That setting was not named.
But it was likely institutional-either prisons or state hospitals-where populations were accessible and had little ability to refuse participation.
🕳️ Behind the Language: A Study Without Oversight
What’s most striking about the document isn’t what it says-but what it doesn’t.
There’s no mention of ethical review boards. No requirement for informed consent.
No description of how subjects would be selected or protected.
The entire agreement is focused on funding, staffing, and logistics-leaving the actual methodology alarmingly open-ended.
The language is bureaucratic, but the meaning is clear. This wasn’t a neutral study or observational research.
It was a privately funded human experimentation program targeting individuals labeled as "sexually deviated offenders," carried out with help from state institutions and under minimal public or professional scrutiny.
"Scientific experiments designed to throw additional light on this difficult problem."
Who these experiments were performed on, what they involved, and what happened to the results is left unaddressed.
What remains is a document that points to a broader pattern-classified research, vulnerable subjects, and a complete lack of transparency.
It’s not just the language of secrecy. It’s the infrastructure of it.
