Gwinnett man denies he tattooed underage girl

A Gwinnett man charged with tattooing an underage girl says he's innocent and expects the charges to be dropped.

Aaron Joshua Woody, 23, turned himself in this week after a Buford woman came to Lawrenceville police with her 15-year-old daughter, who had the word "Faith" tattooed on her right shoulder.

The girl led police to Woody's home in Lawrenceville.

He was booked into the Gwinnett County jail Tuesday and released later the same day, jail records show.

But Woody says the girl got the tattoo from someone else.

"I did not tattoo her," he told the AJC. "She asked if she could get the tattoo from me and then I realized her age and I did not do her tattoo. So obviously she got it from someone else, and she's trying to say I did it because she's mad that I wouldn't do her tattoo."

Woody said he is a professional tattoo artist and would not risk inking an underage person.

"I'm certified, I have my license and I know the law ... and I work in two tattoo shops. I would not put my career on the line for an underage tattoo when I have so many customers as it is."

Woody said "when I go to court, it's going to get dismissed ..."

He said he often gets requests from underage teens for tattoos but is careful to verify that they're of legal age.

He said he wants to get the case resolved so he can "continue with my career and try to push forward and not let this get me down."

Under Georgia law, it's a misdemeanor to give a tattoo to anyone under the age of 18 -- even when a parent gives permission.

In January, a Cobb County mother was charged with misdemeanor child cruelty after she let her 10-year-old son get a tattoo in memory of his deceased brother.

Chuntera Napier, of Acworth, said her 12-year-old son, Malik, was struck and killed by a motorist in Macon about two years ago, and her other son, Gaquan, wanted a tattoo like hers to remember his older brother by. She said she was unaware that letting her son get a tattoo was illegal.

Other parents have been arrested in Georgia for allegedly giving their children tattoos.

In April 2011, a man in Floyd County, in northwest Georgia, was found guilty of giving a tattoo to a person under 18 after he tattooed “DB,” for “Daddy’s Boy,” on the shoulder of his 3-year-old son. He was sentenced to 12 months’ probation and fined $300.

About two years ago, a couple in Summerville, also in northwest Georgia, were arrested and charged with cruelty to children, reckless conduct and illegal tattooing after they allegedly gave all six of their youngsters, ages 10 to 17, small cross tattoos.