Jail Time for a Tattoo

NEWPORT — It used to be that jail was a place you got a tattoo. For Kyle Lowe, jail is a place you go for giving a tattoo.

Lowe, 29, of Island Pond, received 29 days in jail for tattooing someone under the age of 18, as well as tattooing without a license. Lowe plead no contest to the charges in Orleans County Superior Court.

The charges stem from an incident involving Lowe, and a 14-year-old girl.

The girl’s mother called police and reported that Lowe had given her daughter a small tattoo of a breast cancer ribbon between the forefinger and thumb of her right hand.

The girl told police that she had watched Lowe tattoo another girl who is reported to have been underage, before she received hers. The other girl received the same tattoo, only on her back instead of her hand.

At least 45 states have adopted laws prohibiting minors from getting tattoos or piercings. Some of these laws are blanket prohibitions against anyone giving a tattoo to a minor, while others allow for minors to get tattoos if they have the permission of a parent or guardian.

Anyone who tattoos a minor in violation of these laws faces criminal penalties.