Naturally, this woman who has had no medical training in how to do this and whose sole instruction were via YouTube videos she had found, botched the circumcision. The boy started to bleed uncontrollably and was in excruciating pain. At that point, she did the first thing right since deciding to do this idiotic procedure by herself; she called 911.
At the hospital doctors completed the circumcision and her son has since recovered fully.
Ms. Peterson was taken into custody and spent 28 days in jail, before a judge decided to sentence her to five years probation. She can see her children, including the son she tried to circumcise on her own, if supervised. But, eventually she is expected to regain custody of all of her children. Right now, they are in the state's custody. She will also be expected to undergo mental health treatment and report to a mental health probation officer as part of her plea agreement.
When explaining his sentencing to the defendant, her lawyer, and the prosecution, the judge had this to say:
Despite the "sensational-sounding facts," said Bergstrom, "the reality is you love your children and had absolutely no intent to harm your child."
I find this ridiculous and beyond astonishing. She might not have intended to cause real bodily danger to her son's life, but that doesn't mean that she didn't do it. She showed an extraordinary lack of common sense and regard for her infant son when she did not even bother to find out if a doctor would do the procedure on a child his age. She just assumed they would not. And, instead of seeking out the care of a person who might be considered a reliable alternative to a doctor in an office or hospital, she relied on YouTube videos of all things to help her through the procedure.
I'm sure that Kevin and Elizabeth Shatz didn't intend to cause real and dangerous bodily harm to their children, either. They supposedly loved their children and thought what they were doing was the right thing to do for very similar reasons to this woman. But, it was not the right thing to do and as a result one of their children was killed after a beating, and another nearly died.
These two situations are different, but similar. The Shatz family had similar purposes for doing what they did when compared to Ms. Peterson's reasons. Neither party involved was trying to kill or maim their children, nor torture them. The difference is that beating your children is illegal in the US and circumicision of a boy is not, and that Ms. Peterson's child survived.
I believe Ms. Peterson loves her son. I believe she thought she was doing the right thing. That doesn't mean that she should get off with probation. Even if it is five years long. I think she should have gotten a prison sentence, even if it were a short one, to send a message to anyone else who might be thinking of doing a home circumicision on their son.
It should be noted that throughout that little rant at the end there I did not mention anything about girls being circumcised. That's because it is already illegal in the US to circumcise a girl.
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