Underage Centralia Boy’s Dragon Tattoo Prompts Police Investigation [Picture]

Centralia, Washington — Police are investigating how a 13-year-old Washington boy was able to get an illegal 6-inch dragon tattoo without his parents permission.

The boy’s mom, who doesn’t want to be identified, stated that her young son got inked while on a trip with family friends, and later told her that the fierce dragon tattoo was a symbol of him surviving leukemia when he was younger, reports The Daily Mail. His mom stated:

“He actually thought I was going to be proud of him. He considered [the tattoo] his badge of honor, saying that he is a cancer survivor.”

She spoke with King-5 as well, saying:

“What he thought was a good thing, is now turning into a really bad thing, and it is not at all how he wanted it to be,” his mother sobbed. “It’s done. I can’t do anything about it.”

Sgt. Stacy Denham who added that the state law is very clear regarding tattooing minors, stated:

“From the picture that I saw, the dragon tattoo is roughly six inches tall…. No minors under the age of 18 can receive a tattoo in Washington State.”

The 13-year old Centralia boy refused to tell anyone where he got the tattoo from, but police state that they know the first name of the person responsible. They say that the state began licensing that tattoo business two years ago, and there are currently 383 tattoo shops with 1,124 licensed artists in Washington State.

Police were originally notified about the dragon tattoo by a family friend, and police were originally concerned that the boy’s parents encouraged it. They eventually determined, however, that the 13-year-old got his dragon tattoo without his parents’ permission. Fitzgerald went on to say, “The parents were not happy about it. The parents would not have allowed or condoned it.”

This is not the first time the 13-year-old has gone under the needle either, as he and his mother got matching heart tattoos when they lived in Texas a year ago, as a commemoration of a medical crisis. The boy believed it was legal in Texas with parental permission. She did not condone her son’s recent dragon tattoo, or a tattoo her 15-year-old son got from the same artist.

The parents of the 13-year-old boy who got a dragon tattoo have punished both him and his brother by grounding them for the summer.