We previously saw the prosecution of a California father who gave his son a gang tattoo, here. Now in Georgia, parents Patty Jo Marsh and her husband, Jacob Bartels have been arrested for giving their children tattoos using a home-made tattoo device.
The parents borrowed a tattoo machine from a friend and used a needle made from guitar strings to give six of their seven children tattoos after Thanksgiving. The children range in age from 10-17. The ten year old was spared the experience.
The tattoos were spotted by their biological mother when they returned home (much like the earlier Fresno case). She was not pleased and called child welfare. In Georgia, it is illegal to give tattoos to children under 18 and it is illegal to give tattoos to anyone without a license.
The couple insists that they did not know it was illegal and only gave into the demands of the kids that they wanted small cross tattoos like their own.
They have been charged with cruelty to children, reckless conduct and tattooing without a license.
For the story, click here.
Nerves do not mend themselves like other organisms in the body. There are numerous nerve endings in the ear lobe.
I have said I don’t agree with that they’ve done… did I not? It states the ages of the children from 10-17, the 10 yr old did not have it done… so what are the ages of the other children?? 17 is not too young. Yes it is illegal in some states, while in some, where I live the parents consent is necessary.
This is the law where I live:
Subdivision 1. Requirements. No person under the age of 18 may receive a tattoo unless the person provides written parental consent to the tattoo. The consent must include both the custodial and noncustodial parents, where applicable.
Subd. 2. Definition. For the purposes of this section, “tattoo” means an indelible mark or figure fixed on the body by insertion of pigment under the skin or by production of scars.
Subd. 3. Penalty. A person who provides a tattoo to a minor in violation of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.
So if my 16 yr old daughter wants a tattoo and we discuss it for a long period of time and I consent. I am child abuser?
I just disagree with calling them child abusers. They might be the most loving parents, but this is one area they definitely made poor judgment. Not knowing the laws and paid the price. The children were returned to them were they not? So I am thinking the courts really don’t think the parents are a harm to the child.
Again, I did say I don’t agree with what they did. Especially due to the fact they didn’t discuss it with the mother. Hell, she might even think it’s cool but was pissed because they didn’t talk to her first. She didn’t pull the children previous to this incident, claiming the children were wrongfully treated. So as parents we really have no rights to make decisions about our kids without society making judgments. Gotcha.
April, when I called tattooing, circumcising, or piercing the ears of children “child abuse,” I did not mean it in a legal sense. Whether and how these acts should be punished by the law I will leave to another day. I meant that any alteration of a child’s body (cutting hair and nails aside) is wrong because it does not respect the child’s body. (I also exclude, of course, medically necessary surgical procedures.)
April,
No issue except with the word “is”. “[M]ay be permanent nerve damage” and I’m on board. However, there is no maybe about what a tattoo entails and that was my point in using the Ubangi lip plates. Seen or unseen or culturally accepted is only part of the picture. Doing damage to a body for aesthetic reasons without valid consent of the “body’s owner” is the core issue. You seem to intuit/know this although you don’t quite get there in your expression.
The children crying or liking it isn’t the point. They could have ASKED for the tattoos and it still wouldn’t matter. Just like they are too young to enter into a valid contract or join the military, they are too young to give legally valid consent for the procedure. That makes it a prima facie abusive action. It’s analogous to getting your kids to shoplift. The act itself is prohibited by law even if no one is “hurt” and the kids enjoy it. It’s just flat illegal to tattoo a minor under any circumstance in most (if not all) states and it has to do with valid consent. Just like the laws forbidding tattooing the drunk. Drunk and drugged people are not capable of valid consent either.
So, the question that begets answering now. Since, to circumcise (spelled it without wincing once) is now a public health measure, is it not abuse to not have it performed at birth rather than 7 days later which is an acceptable custom?
I have tattoos, my children want tattoos too. Like I said, I don’t agree with what they did, but I find this to be a bit over the top. Are there other signs of abuse? Did the children cry and scream saying to the mother they didn’t want it done? I disagree with them doing it without the biological mother’s consent. In that area they should be reprimanded, but to be called a child abuser? T
Buddha, my point being is there are practices done in the home continually, the ear piercing is an example. Yes, they can grow back over, but there is permanent nerve damage. So I do think this can compare to the tattooing, but because we as a society can’t see it, it’s ok?
Just my opinion. 🙂
Henry,
Nice redemption and clarification.
Buddha, there is no bigotry implicit in condemning a practice mandated by a religion or religions, unless one condemns it because it is mandated by a religion or religions. (Islam as well as Judaism mandates circumcision.) It is generally not a defense to a criminal prosecution that one’s religion required one to commit it, and the Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment’s free exercise clause does not generally include the right to violate a law with a legitimate secular purpose. Such laws include those that prohibit human sacrifice, animal cruelty, polygamy, possession of certain drugs, and discrimination in employment, housing, or public accommodations on the basis of race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.
“Ubangi style”
April,
Your example is facile. You take out the earring, the hole grows over. I have that feature myself but I chose to as an adult. No permanent damage and for children it would be even less so as they heal better than adults. If you wanted to give your child an Ubangi stule lip plate and you are NOT a Ubangi tribesman? Yeah, that’s child abuse.
mespo,
No. But you should be liable if you let them get or give them a tattoo before the age of consent. It is against the law in most states to tattoo a minor as a matter of statute. In some states, you cannot tattoo the drunk or medicated either.
Does this mean that all parents who get their babies ears pierced be arrested? What about those that pierce ears with a needle, thread, and using ice cubes to numb? I guess they all should be thrown in jail and marked as bad parents who abuse their children.
In many cultures this is acceptable, tribes in Africa tattoo their children at a very early age, along with many other cultural traditions and has been done for years. Are they all bad parents too? Why are we, as a society so intolerant and expect everyone to fit into the same box.
On the flip side, I think what needs to be addressed more is that they were not both the biological parents of 2 of those children. Legally, they were wrong to not approach the biological mother of the 2 children and talk to her about it first. That I find the biggest fault. I am not condoning what they did, I would never do it, but it’s not my place to judge, and mark someone for life as a child abuser.
I have a tattoo and I’m circumcised (although not a Jew, which seemed to be your implication – skating right up to that line of bigotry and stopping. Cute.)
And for your information?
Circumcision can be undone:
http://www.cirp.org/library/restoration/
Henry,
Such a pragmatist.
This is a class thing. Most readers of Turley’s blog do not get tattoos, but many of them circumcise their infant sons, which, unlike tattoos, cannot be undone. And some of them may pierce the ears of their infant daughters. All of these, not just tattoos, constitute child abuse, whether or not a person’s religion mandates it.
Am I criminally liable for letting by kids watch “LA Ink” on TLC?
Ahh, gotcha. Yeah. Those folks could do with some learning of the parenting skills. I cannot disagree with that.
I am not advocating that the children remain, nor that charges should not occur. What I am saying is parenting skills are needed. Some people just don’t have a concept of whats right or wrong.
AY,
I disagree. Tattooing is a permanent. Yeah, yeah, I know about laser removal and I’ve seen the kind of scars that leaves too. Would those scars be appropriate if the parents “skipped the middle man” and just burned the kids with cigarettes? No.
The kids need to be with screened relatives or in foster care with supervised visitation only.
rafflaw,
They give each other tats in prison all of the time. This is taught like the military. SOP AFU. I would bet that the dad has at least one stripe under him belly.
To take away ones child in a situation like this is a grave act. Maybe INS or DHS could offer some parenting skills with what is proper and or not with respect to children.
Is this not Georgia where the headlines went like this:
“Georgia candidate for governor says sex with mules, watermelon behind him ”
Link: http://www.examiner.com/x-1765-Underground-Examiner~y2009m4d28-Georgia-Creationist-Party-Candidate-Neal-Horsley-runs-on-secessionist-platform
I believe that there was an article in here about this man (muler) and his mule.
I would hope that this parent would not be allowed to see these kids again, at least not without strict supervision. The idea of giving home made tattoos to children is ridiculous.