Mother arrested for allowing 10-year-old son to get a tattoo in New York – where kids can legally have 'gender-affirming medical interventions,' puberty blockers

An upstate New York mother has been arrested after her 10-year-old son got a tattoo.

Mid-Hudson News reported, "Crystal Thomas, 33, is accused of allowing her 10-year-old son to get a large permanent ink tattoo on his body."

Thomas is reportedly a resident of Highland, New York. She has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, according to police.

Lloyd police Chief James Janso told the Daily Mail that the 10-year-old child was tattooed at a motel where he, his mother, and older sibling were staying. For several weeks before her arrest, the family was purportedly staying at the Highland Motel, which primarily hosts "transient stays."

Thomas allegedly found out that a neighboring man at the motel was an amateur tattoo artist. She reportedly gave permission for the man to tattoo her young son.

The boy got a "six to eight-inch" tattoo of his name in block letters across his inner forearm, police said. The mother was reportedly not in the room when her son got the tattoo.

"According to the police report, the tattoo was discovered by a school nurse when the boy sought to have Vaseline applied over it. The nurse reported it to a school resource officer who contacted police in Lloyd, located near Highland and Poughkeepsie," Syracuse.com reported.

Chief Janso noted of the tattoo, "It's not a professional job."

Police are in search of the man who tattooed the small boy. He reportedly already left the Highland Motel.

Thomas was released on an appearance ticket and is due back in court on Oct. 20.

The mother allegedly had her two children taken away by child protective services. It is not known if the mother was given custody of her children after being released.

In New York, it is illegal for someone under 18 years old to get a tattoo, even with parental consent.

Section 260.21 of the New York State Penal Law states that it is illegal to mark "the body of a child less than eighteen years old with indelible ink or pigments by means of tattooing."

While children are not legally allowed to get a tattoo in New York, minors may receive "gender-affirming medical and psychosocial services for gender-diverse and transgender youth" at the Hassenfeld Children's Hospital in New York City.

NYU Langone offers children a "Transgender Youth Health Program," where minors can get "gender-affirming medical interventions." The medical center also offers kids "puberty suppression, hormone therapy, and social and emotional support."

The children's hospital provides for minors to "use gender-affirming hormones such as testosterone and estrogen or menstrual suppression." The hospital also offers children "medications that safely pause puberty, giving your child extra time to explore their gender identity."

The medical center boasts, "Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone has been designated an LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group. We are the first and only children’s hospital in New York City to earn this designation."

In June, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health lowered the age when teens should be able to get so-called "gender-affirming care."

The guidelines suggest puberty blockers for girls as young as 8 years old, and boys as early as age 10.

The group said lifelong hormone treatments can be given to children as young as 14. The transgender advocacy organization admits the dangers of hormone treatments such as infertility, weight gain, strokes, and high blood pressure.

The group claimed that trans boys should be able to get irreversible breast removal surgery at the age of 15.

The group claimed that it is unethical and harmful to withhold early treatment.