Woman Who Is Trying to Stop Her Son From Court-Ordered Circumcision at 4 Years Old Now a Fugitive

When a Florida mom didn't show up to court to hand over her 4-year-old to have him circumcised, the judge issued her an arrest warrant.

Now police don't know where to find her – nor can they find out.

Heather Hironimus checked into an undisclosed domestic violence shelter with her son, Chase, in February after the boy's father won a drawn-out legal battle to have him circumcised. And because of privacy laws, attorneys don't have to tell officers where the mother and her son are staying, WPBF-TV reported.

Heather Hironimus and her 4-year-old son, Chase (Image source: WPBF-TV)

The father, Dennis Nebus, who has never been married to Hironimus, testified in court Friday that he couldn't have his son circumcised, as required by a 2012 parenting plan, because he didn't know where the two were staying. The judge then found Hironimus to be in contempt of court and ordered her to make an appearance Tuesday, where she would then turn over her son to have the procedure.

But when the judge found out Tuesday she didn't show up, he ordered that she be apprehended by officers and brought into court. That's when officers tried to determine the location of where she was staying and determined that would be a violation of her privacy.

"The child is scared to death of the procedure and doesn't want it," Thomas Hunker, an attorney for Hironimus, told the Palm Beach Sun-Sentinel. "There have been no safeguards put in place to protect the child's psychological and emotional condition with regards to this surgery."

While the judge is willing to forego sending Hironimus to jail for not attending her scheduled court appearance, he said he would only do it if she signs a consent to the procedure.

Another hearing is scheduled for Wednesday where Palm Beach County, Florida, Circuit Judge Jeffrey Dana Gillen is expected to decide how the case should move forward.

(H/T: WPBF-TV)

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