A Virginia woman pleaded guilty to child abuse after attempting to remove tattoos from her two young daughters with a heated razor blade.
Melissa Delp, 35, left her children with babysitter Alexander Edwards who tattooed the 11- and 12-year-old girls at their house without parental permission.
Virginia state law prohibits anyone from tattooing or performing body piercings on persons younger than 18 years old.
When Delp and her boyfriend, Daniel Janney, came home and discovered the new tattoos on the children, they grabbed a heated razor and began attempting to scrape the ink off the girls, reports The Associated Press.
The couple unsuccessfully removed the tattoos and the girls now have minor injuries and scarring on top of the permanent tattoos, reports Reuters.
The 12-year-old reportedly told investigators Edwards used a tattoo gun to ink her name on her shoulder, according to AP.
After pleading guilty, Delp was sentenced to eight years in prison, but after having six and a half of those years suspended by a judge in the Campbell County Circuit Court on Monday, she will serve 18 months in jail.
Edwards and Janney are currently in jail, but are still waiting on upcoming plea hearings.
Edwards faces two counts of malicious wounding, two counts of abduction and two counts of felony child abuse, and Janney faces two counts of felony child abuse and two counts of malicious wounding.
