Probation for dad in toddler tattoo case

A Georgia dad has been sentenced to probation after local child protective services discovered the man had tattooed his toddler while drunk.

26-year-old Eugene Ashley inked “DB”- for “daddy’s boy”- into the child’s skin in 2009. Georgia state law forbids tattooing a child under the age of 18, and the illegal ink wasn’t discovered until Georgia’s Department of Child Services visited Ashley’s home and spotted the “egregious” violation. (It’s not clear why the agents were at Ashley’s home in the first place.)

District Attorney Leigh Patterson said that due to the child’s very young age, pursuing Ashley criminally would have been a challenge:

Patterson called the crime egregious and said the child told DFCS the tattoo hurt. But she also said it would have been impossible to go to a jury with the case because of the victim’s age.

“I don’t know if we would be able to elicit a testimony from a child,” Patterson said.

Ashley was fined $300, and given a year of probation. The little boy now lives with an uncle.