Tattoo Mom Busted for Inking 11-Year-Old
By: Alyssa Newcomb
Updated: October 8, 2012
A North Carolina mother was arrested after she gave her 11-year-old daughter a small heart-shaped tattoo near her shoulder, authorities said.
Odessa Clay, 30, of Greensboro, N.C., faces one count of tattooing a person under age 18.
It is illegal to tattoo a minor in North Carolina, regardless of parental consent.
The Havelock Police Department charged Clay, who has a few tattoos of her own, with the offense in late September.
In her defense, Clay said she did not know tattooing a minor, especially her own daughter, was illegal.
"She asked me to do it," Clay told ABC News affiliate WCTI-TV, adding that she only drew a heart outline and did not fill in the shape.
Clay said she believes an ex in-law turned her in after she filed a report against her 11-year-old daughter's paternal grandfather.
