Buster

Mom Arrested For Letting Son, 10, Get Large Tattoo On His Arm, Police Say

10/17 UPDATE: Austin Smith, 20, was arrested Saturday for giving the 10-year-old a permanent tattoo. Charged with endangering the welfare of a child and a second misdemeanor, Smith was released from custody on a desk appearance ticket and is scheduled for a November 3 hearing in Town Court.

A New York woman has been arrested for allowing her 10-year-old son to get a large tattoo across his forearm, artwork that was spotted by a school employee who reported the illegal ink to law enforcement.

Police this month busted Crystal Thomas, 33, for endangering the welfare of a child. She was booked on the misdemeanor charge and released from custody on a Town Court appearance ticket.

Thomas’s son was placed in the custody of child protective services officials.

According to police, the boy was tattooed inside a room at the hotel where Thomas and her two children reside. The Ulster County hotel is about 100 miles north of New York City.

Before inking the boy, police say, the tattoo artist got permission from Thomas. The resulting tattoo--the boy’s name in “full-size block letters”--was inked across the child’s forearm, said Chief James Janso of the Town of Lloyd Police.

The tattoo is large enough that “you would need a sleeve to cover it up,” said Janso.

Officials learned of the tattoo earlier this month when the boy asked the nurse at his middle school to apply Vaseline atop the fresh ink, Janso told TSG.

Janso described the tattoo artist as a “person of interest” who could face charges including tattooing a minor and endangering the welfare of a child. The whereabouts of the male suspect are currently unknown, said Janso.

Thomas is pictured above in a photo from her Facebook page.