Woman Uses Box Cutter to Circumcise Infant

I'm circumcised, and always thought it was for hygienic reasons (more than the religious ones). Hearing this story makes me really stifle an urge to cry. I shot a sketch yesterday where we make fun of a guy decapitating a dog and we thought we might be called sick. Then someone goes and does something like this for real. So sad.

http://www.kval.com/news/local/119479534.html

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A woman accused of attempting to circumcise her baby at home using a box cutter and a pair of pliers faces assault and criminal mistreatment charges.

Keemonta Peterson, 29, of Portland, told police she decided to circumcise her baby at home after reading the Bible. She said she watched some YouTube videos about circumcisions before making the attempt in October, according to The Oregonian.

After the 3-month-old boy suffered two hours of uncontrolled bleeding, she called 911 and the baby was rushed to a hospital where he was initially listed in critical condition. The boy appeared to have recovered with no permanent injury.

According to the prosecutor, a doctor described the baby's condition upon arrival at the hospital as life-threatening, and the pain as immense.

The details emerged in a memorandum Deputy district attorney John Casalino filed this week in Multnomah County Circuit Court and obtained by The Oregonian. The document was filed to oppose Peterson's attempt to be released from Multnomah County jail.

Peterson had been locked up since her arrest March 8 and held on $550,000 bail. At a hearing Tuesday, the prosecutor tried to persuade a judge not to make it easier for Peterson to get out of jail pending trial.

But Peterson's attorney, Scott Raivio, argued her bail should be reduced. His arguments were supported by a Close Street Supervision deputy, who noted Peterson has strong family support and had been attending mental-health counseling three times a week before she was booked in jail.

Judge David Rees lowered Peterson's bail to $5,000. She posted $500 — the required 10 percent — and was released Wednesday to the supervision of the deputy.

She has been allowed to see her four children, who are staying with family members, during supervised visits. A trial was tentatively scheduled for June.

3 members like this

Comment by Kenneth Montville D.D. on April 13, 2011 at 6:09pm: It hurts just to read that.

Comment by Walter Maki on April 13, 2011 at 6:20pm: Ouch!

Comment by Atheist Mama on April 13, 2011 at 6:27pm: I read this just the other day and I almost posted it here. And people wonder what harm religion does???

Comment by Gaetano on April 13, 2011 at 6:54pm: Extremism at its finest.

Comment by Heather Spoonheim on April 13, 2011 at 7:29pm: Wow, just wow. Kinda makes my mother's midnight Kool-aid faith tests seem like a walk in the park.

Comment by Cathy Cooper on April 13, 2011 at 8:05pm: That poor little boy! I often wonder why a god, who is supposed to have perfectly designed us----designed men with a piece of skin he then demanded to be painfully removed. (Gen 17:1-14) But it is not just little boys In many countries females have even worse genital mutilations done. It's quite sickening.

Comment by Ryan E. Hoffman on April 13, 2011 at 8:10pm: I am circumcised. The NIH and JAMA have found actual medical benefits to the procedure and mine was done by a trained medical professional, thankfully. Stories like this though make me want to actually puke. What a horrible mother.

Comment by CJoe on April 13, 2011 at 9:31pm: What's even worse is that they would let her anywhere near her children after this. A lot of good that counseling did. If she's going to mental health therapy, why is she allowed to be a parent??

Comment by Kenneth Montville D.D. on April 13, 2011 at 10:01pm: @Ryan E. Hoffman: The medical benefits of circumcision are at best negligible. The documentation of any possible benefits have been looked at again and again and are a hotly debated subject.

"Virtually all current policy statements from specialty societies and medical organizations do not recommend routine neonatal circumcision, and support the provision of accurate and unbiased information to parents to inform their choice."

-Extract from the summary of the American Medical Association's position paper on routine neonatal circumcision.

@Heather: midnight Kool-aid faith test? Please explain this, I need to hear it. This makes my French Catholic grandparents sound boring by comparison. :)

Comment by Heather Spoonheim on April 13, 2011 at 10:23pm: @Kenneth - oh it's a long weird story that summarizes to too much bible reading by a semi-literate dullard of a woman with schizo-affective disorder, known to me simply as 'mom'. Sometimes I was asked to stay with her just before or after her rounds in the looney-bin and I learned a lot about dealing with delusions. I'm certain she got the Kool-aid idea from news reports about Jim Jones and sometimes she wanted my to kneel beside her praying in front of a mirror in the hopes that god would reach through and take me to the other side - I think the kool aid was to help god reach through or something. I don't know if she ever got her hands on anything to really poison the kool aid but I always managed to swap it out before the ceremonies just in case.

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