Strollerderby
UPDATE: Dad Who Forced Son To Get Tattoo is Arrested
Updating the story from a few weeks ago: Enrique Gonzalez, the Fresno father and gang member who allegedly forcibly tattooed a dog’s paw on his 7-year-old son, has been arrested in Madera County, California, according to the Fresno Bee. Gonzalez was found hiding out at a motel with his girlfriend; he tried to escape through a window but police caught him. He is being held on $700,000 bail.
Original post follows below.
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This is pretty hard core.
Enrique Gonzalez, a Fresno, California father, is a member of a gang called the Bulldogs. He wanted his son, who is 7, to get marked with their symbol, which is a dog’s paw. The boy didn’t want to, possibly because he’s seven and tattoos hurt. (I can barely get my kids to stick a thermometer in their mouths to see if they have a fever.) So, according to a police report, Gonzalez held his son down while Travis Gorman gave him the tattoo.
Gorman has been arrested, Gonzalez is still at large. (Note that these are charges that the two men have been accused of, so everything here is “allegedly.”)
Adding to the troubling nature of this story (if that’s possible) is that Gorman isn’t a licensed tattoo artist. So what, you say? That just seems less safe. Not that it would have been OK to do this in a tattoo parlor, of course.
In California, it is illegal for anyone under 18 to get “inked”, although police acknowledge that they have seen gang tattoos on children as young as 14. “But never this young,” said Fresno Detective Jesse Ruelas. I hope not.
Other details of interest: the boy lives with his mother, and was visiting his father over the Easter holiday, which I suppose means the parents have shared custody, or maybe just that the father has visitation. I’m guessing that won’t happen anymore. The mother found the tattoo when her son came home from visiting with dad and wouldn’t let her see him get undressed to take a bath.
Scary stuff. Hope the kid is OK and he can get over this.
Source: Fresno Bee
Update source: Fresno Bee
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5 Comments
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amLee, I’m hoping Clean Slate or a similar gang-recovery project can help out re: getting the tattoo removed. Removal’s not a picnic, but I’m with you on the point that this little boy was unwillingly branded with an identifiable gang symbol. Obviously no one should be tattooed against their will (esp. not a child), but being forcibly tattooed with a gang symbol is bad on top of bad.
Clean Slate is a good program. They’re NFP and will happily take your donations.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amthis is disgusting. it probably scarred that poor little boy mentally for life. getting a tattoo is very painful and being a 7 YEAR OLD child who doesnt understand why hes being put through this pain??ugh! i hope they put him away for a long time and dont let him near that poor kid again.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amThis case of child abuse is just horrendous — I can see nothing ‘cool’ about it.
Consider that this little boy may very well have been exposed to blood borne illness such as hepatitis, HIV, etc. I doubt Gorman tattooed the child with a fresh needle, fresh ink, or in sanitary conditions. Also, it is my understanding that the laser treatments to remove a tattoo are more painful than the tattoo itself and can leave scarring.
The only silver lining I can see is that the tattoo is on the little boys hip so can be easily covered, but this type of gang ‘branding’ is done to identify members. Whether or not this child follows in his fathers criminal footsteps being permanently branded a gang member could leave him vulnerable to violence by rival gangs. I would hate to see this child endure any more collateral damage from his fathers sadistic, violent life choices.
elohveeee12 commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amI feel absolutly horrible for this boy. Being forcibly tattooed must be very painful, and the fact that it was done by his own father makes it that much worse.
But for one split second, my brain went to the little boy side of the spectrum (as opposed to the mother side). And all I could think was, when his tattoo stops hurting, this kid is going to be the most badass second grader ever. Seriously, he will be the only kid on the playground with a tat (at least one that doesn’t wash off in the tub), and that is pretty cool.…Again, cool for him, minus all the abusive father crap of course.
Anonymous commented on Jan 01 70 at 12:00 amOf course he wasn’t a licensed tattoo artist. No licensed tattoo artist in their right mind would tattoo a child, or anyone who did not want to get tattooed, for that matter.
That poor little boy, I hope he is able to get it lasered off when he is older, although that will also hurt like hell. I hope those two idiots go away for a long time.
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