This past May, I wrote a blog post about Fresno, California native, Enrique Gonzalez and the trouble he caused when he decided to have the symbol for his gang, the Fresno Bulldogs, tattooed on his 7-year-old son. It was a friend of Gonzalez, Travis Gorman who did the actual tattooing. For some time it was looking as though both Gonzalez and Gorman would face charges of aggravated mayhem and be sentenced to life in prison.
Well, the verdict came down this weekend and neither Gonzalez nor Gorman will be serving a life sentence of any sort. Instead, the two men were charged with cruel and inhumane treatment of a child, which carries a potential sentence of 7 years behind bars.
“During preliminary hearing testimony Monday, Fresno County Superior Court Judge Hillary Chittick questioned whether a small tattoo is a permanent and painful disfigurement worthy of a potential life sentence that comes with a mayhem conviction, then asked to think it over.” More>>>
Travis Gorman’s defense for tattooing the child was that the 7-year-old had asked the father for the tattoo, saying “I want to be like you.” Which is quite possibly one of the worst defenses that I’ve ever heard. Because we all know how firmly rooted that logic and common sense are in the psychology of a 7-year-old child. Hell, I wanted to be able to shave like my dad did when I was 7-years-old. Did my father then let me practice with a straight edge razor?
No, because that would have been stupid.