A mum was arrested after her 10-year-old son was found to have a large tattoo.
The boy had reportedly asked a school nurse for petroleum jelly to soothe the healing ink of his own name in large bold letters on his forearm.
School staff alerted authorities, who arrested 33-year-old mum Crystal Thomas, from Highland, New York, who told police she thought the tattoo was temporary.
She has also since told police she believed "no little child should get tattooed".
Tattoo artist Austin Smith, 20, was also taken into custody.
Thomas was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, but has since been released on an appearance ticket, reports the New York Times.
In the state of New York, individuals must be at least 18 years old to get a tattoo.
Ms Thomas said in court that she supported age restrictions, and that the incident had been a misunderstanding.
Artist Mr Smith said he regretted tattooing the boy, and claimed he was not aware of age restriction laws.
He appeared in court charged with dealing unlawfully with a child.
He said: "It’s the worst mistake I’ve made in my life.
“At the time, I thought if you got your parents’ permission, you could get a tattoo.”
Meanwhile, a tattoo artist has gone viral after sharing videos appearing to show babies being inked on social media.
Ayala Bratt, 22, was slammed by users on TikTok after a video of a mum, dad and baby getting matching tattoos racked up more than 22 million views.
The body art fanatic, who has been inking people since 2013, defended her actions and believed children being exposed to the world of tattoo art can be a positive experience.
In the viral video, which has racked up 22.5 million views and over 564,000 likes on TikTok, an adorable baby can be seen resting on its dad's knee.
The father, who has just received a thigh tattoo by Ayala, can be seen distracting his son by clicking his fingers as the artist carefully lays a purple stencil of a sun and moon on the baby's leg.
"I think opening kids up to the world of tattoos is completely okay," Ayala told NeedToKnow.Online.
"It's just art and it's a way to express yourself. It's not just something that is related to gangsters."
