Supreme court hears case of dad who mutilated son's genitals with carpet blade; this is religious freeedom? (Ottawa, Canada)

Appears you can pull any crazy sh** you want these days, and call it "religious freedom."

UNNAMED DAD

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2012/11/20121115-092906.html

Top court to hear case of man who gave his son a botched circumcision with a carpet blade at home

9:29 am, November 15th, 2012

BRIGITTE PELLERIN | QMI AGENCY OTTAWA - The Supreme Court on Friday will hear arguments about whether freedom of religion includes the right to circumcise one's son at home.

A British Columbia man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, attempted to circumcise his four-year-old son on the kitchen floor of his home in April 2007. He used a carpet blade that he purchased at Home Depot earlier that day and sterilized. He didn't give his son any anesthetic, just four ounces of homemade honey wine.

According to the Crown, the father lacked the medical skills to perform a circumcision. He tried to circumcise himself in 2005 using a Zhenxi ring, or circumcision ring. It wasn't successful and the father had to be rushed to a hospital.

The circumcision he performed on his son two years later wasn't successful either and there was significant bleeding, which the father stopped with the help of a veterinary blood-stopping agent and paper towels.

"The result," according to court documents submitted by the Crown, was "the foreskin on D.J.'s penis stuck out like two arms. D.J. was not circumcised. He was disfigured."

In 2009, the man was charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon. He was convicted of criminal negligence causing bodily harm but acquitted of the other two charges. The BC Court of Appeal found him guilty on all counts, and he appealed to the Supreme Court.

The father, as a Jehovah's Witness, believes circumcision is necessary to "make things right with God." He also argues he didn't intend to hurt his son and took many safety precautions including consulting doctors (who advised him against it) and reading about circumcision online.

The Crown argues the case is about child abuse, not about freedom of religion.

Dad arrested for burning genitals of 1-month-old son (El Paso, Texas)

Sicko dad is identified as MIGUEL ESTEBAN LECHUGA PORTILLO. 

Notice that there is mention of a grandmother but not a mom. What happened to Mom? Is this a single and/or custodial father? 

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_21783577/ju-rez-police-father-burns-infant-sons-genitals?source=most_viewed

Juárez police: Father burns infant son's genitals 

Marisela Ortega Lozano / El Paso Times

Posted: 10/16/2012 02:46:20 PM MDT

Juárez police on Monday arrested a 19-year old man for allegedly burning his one-year-old son's genital area with a cigarette, officials said.

The assault allegedly took place inside a home at the intersection of Hacienda de la Espuela and Hacienda de la Noria in the Hacienda de las Torres neighborhood, which is in South Juárez.

The alleged victim's grandmother alerted police when the infant showed the cigarette burns to her, a police spokesman said in a press release.

Officers from Domestic Violence Special Unit arrested the boy's father, Miguel Esteban Lechuga Portillo, 19, on charges of injury to a child.

The child was turned over to social workers.

The police did not elaborate on the extent of the injuries sustained by the baby.

Dad charged with beating 3-week-old son to death (South Africa)

Notice that dad IGSHAAN PRICE had only been alone with the baby for a few minutes, but that's all it took. But it's really no surprise. An earlier child died under "mysterious" circumstances when left alone with Dad, and the guy beats the mother routinely.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/dad-held-for-killing-baby-1.1294715

Dad held for killing baby
May 11 2012 at 12:31pm
By Megan Baadjies

A three-week-old baby was brutally beaten to death – allegedly by his own father.

Little Laeeq Schroeder suffered a gruesome litany of injuries before he was violently killed.

The baby boy had five broken ribs, a broken hip bone, blood on his brain, a swollen knee and injuries on his back and testicles.

On Friday the infant’s father, Igshaan Price, was set to appear in court charged with killing his own son.

The Daily Voice can reveal the 39-year-old was arrested outside Salt River mortuary earlier this month.

They suspected foul play after an autopsy carried out on his son revealed he had suffered horrific internal injuries.

Price will be formally charged with Laeeq’s murder at Athlone Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

The baby’s heartbroken mother Felicia Schroeder, 29, on Thursday night recalled the nightmare moment when she discovered her little son’s lifeless body.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Voice, Felicia claimed she left her son with Price for just a few minutes as she went to a shop nearby.

When she returned, Price gave their son to her.

She said he told her the infant had difficulty breathing.

But Felicia insisted: “He was perfectly fine when I left the house shortly after 1pm.

“I was away for a short while and when I got back he gave me the child and said he can’t breathe.”

Felicia said her baby’s eyes were shut and he looked pale.

She immediately rushed little Laeeq to hospital in a panicked state.

“He wasn’t crying or anything and I noticed that his face was lighter,” Felicia added.

“I immediately ran to the hospital but before I left, I told Igshaan to bring a blanket along when he comes to the hospital after me.

“As I was running, I lifted (Laeeq’s) arm but it fell down again.”

At the hospital, doctors battled to save Laeeq. But it was too late. He was declared dead shortly before 2pm on May 1.

“When the doctors came out to give me the news, I just cried,” the grieving mom said.

“I came home to my mother and gave her the news, then I went looking Igshaan who never made it to the hospital after I asked him to bring the blanket.”

Distraught Felicia eventually found her boyfriend sitting at home a few hours later and told him their son was dead.

The baby was due to be buried the following day in accordance with Islamic rites.

But instead police accompanied Felicia to the mortuary and arrested Price under suspicion of murder.

“We were getting ready to bury Laeeq when police came to get me at home,” Felicia explained.

“Igshaan and his brother were at the mortuary when police told me after an autopsy they found my child didn’t die of natural causes.”

Felicia, a self-confessed drug user, says Igshaan is an abusive bully who regularly beat her.
“He was very abusive towards me as well,” she told the Daily Voice.
I was afraid of him because he was always hitting me and he was aggressive.”

And in a chilling twist, Felicia revealed she and Price also had a previous child who died under mysterious circumstances in May last year.

In a case with eerie echoes of this tragedy, Felicia left their three-month-old daughter Faith with Price while she went to visit her mother.

“I left her with him for a few minutes and when I got back, his brother told me she was at the hospital,” Felicia said.
“She later died and doctors said she was brain dead.”

Felicia confirmed that no autopsy had been carried out on Faith.

“We just took what the doctors said,” she said.

“Igshaan says they rushed her to the hospital after she choked while drinking her bottle.
“We were both on drugs but I stopped because of my children. I loved my children.

“I was very attached to Laeeq and I’m going to miss holding him.”

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Lance Goliath on Thursday night confirmed that police are investigating Laeeq’s murder.

When asked about the death of Price’s first child, Goliath vowed police would “investigate all of the circumstances” surrounding the case.

*This article was published in the Daily Voice

Custodial dad bites off genitals of 6-year-old son (Shenzhen, China)

It seems that UNNAMED DAD was custodial. Mom, it is claimed, "left them" (the father and two children) a few years back. But I'd like to see confirmation of that from the mother herself.

http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/134263/father_bites_off_6yearold_sons


Father Bites Off 6-Year-Old Son’s Penis Before Brave Witnesses Can Stop Him
Posted by Lindsay Mannering on March 8, 2012 at 3:31 PM

This story isn't for the faint of heart. A father and his two young children, a 6-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl, were seen taking a walk, naked, on the street near their apartment in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. Unfortunately, that's not the worst of it. The father allegedly asked his son to bite his penis, and when the son refused, the father bit off his son's penis.

Onlookers rushed to the aid of the boy when they saw him screaming and crying with blood pouring from his groin. They were able to recover his severed member from the nearby bushes, and sped off to the hospital.

It's been reported that doctors were able to reattach the penis, but it's likely the child will suffer from a lifelong disability. He's currently in stable condition and will receive psychological treatment for his obvious trauma.

The father's also been hospitalized -- it's believed he's been battling mental illness. No word on where or what happened to his 4-year-old daughter. The three of them had been living together in an apartment ever since the mother/wife left them in 2010 after a failed business venture.

What can you really say about a story like this? It's terrible, it's terrifying, it's despicable, detestable, and disgusting. It's abhorrent on every level and absolutely heartbreaking. For some reason, I'm not especially angered by it -- it's more depressing than it is enraging.

The only silver lining of this story is the fact that so many strangers came to the aid of the little boy. It couldn't have been an easy scene to witness nor become a part of, but these selfless people knew what was right, and did everything they could to help.

If it hadn't been for them, who knows how the rest of the story would've unfolded.

State Supreme Court: Custodial dad can't force 12-year-old son to get religious circumcision (Portland, Oregon)

Seems custodial dad JAMES BOLDT decided one day he wanted to convert to Orthodox Judaism. Fine, whatever. But in his new-found fervor, he also wanted to force his son to get a circumcision. The boy didn't want one, and neither did his non-custodial mom. Finally after 5 years in court, the Oregon Supreme Court has decided that the boy doesn't have to.

The great unanswered question: How did this religious nutcase daddy get custody?

http://ecochildsplay.com/2011/02/14/oregon-supreme-court-protected-12-year-old-boy-from-religious-circumcision/

Oregon Supreme Court Protected 12-Year-Old Boy from Religious Circumcision
by Jennifer Lance on February 14, 2011

The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled on a case that is at the heart of religious freedom and circumcision. Three weeks ago, we raised the issue in relation to the proposed Male Genital Mutilation (MGM) Bill in San Francisco. We’ve had many passionate comments to that post. Three years ago, the Oregon Supreme Court decided a healthy child’s rights usurp those of religion. Such a ruling could be applicable to the MGM bill in San Francisco.

We are pleased that the Oregon Supreme Court recognized this healthy child does not need this surgery and has a right to be heard, though we remain concerned he may have been manipulated,” said attorney John Geisheker, Director of D.O.C. “Nevertheless, this is a landmark step toward recognizing the separate rights of children. We applaud the Court for protecting this boy. There is no more important decision to make for a male child.”

The Court overturned opinions of both the trial court and the Oregon Court of Appeals which had allowed the ritual surgery regardless of the child’s preferences. The custodial father, an attorney, claims to have converted to a branch of Judaism which requires the procedure. The mother, an Orthodox Christian, opposed the father and was supported by the Seattle based organization, D.O.C., who submitted two ‘friend of the Court’ briefs…

“In our view, at age 12, the (boy’s) attitude regarding circumcision, though not conclusive of the custody issue presented here, is a fact necessary to the determination,” Chief Justice Paul De Muniz wrote. “Forcing (him) at age 12 to undergo circumcision against his will could seriously affect the relationship between (he) and his father, and could have a pronounced effect on father’s capability to properly care for (him).”

The father James Boldt tried to get the United States Supreme Court to hear the case on the grounds that it was the father’s decision not the child’s, but the high court rejected hearing the case. Two years later, when Mischa was 14-years-old, his rights were honored. Bnet reports:

On April 22, in the remand hearing in Jackson County, Oregon, the boy privately testified in the judge’s chambers with neither of his parents allowed to be present. Misha told the judge that he did NOT want to be circumcised and did NOT want to be Jewish. The Judge went on the record in the courtroom accepting that testimony. In early June she issued an order finding that significant cause existed to warrant testimony on whether custody should be given back to the mother…

Ironically, had Misha’s preferences been asked five years ago when he was nine, the court could more easily have ignored him and humored the father. So the delay, while unconscionable, may have saved him. During the intervening half decade, he had the time to develop some of the aplomb of an adult, as well as an evident sense of himself as in charge of his own destiny.

Misha was protected because he had reached a mature age. It’s interesting that the court finds it appropriate to listen to a 14-year-old’s wishes but does not give the same rights to babies. Shouldn’t male babies be allowed to mature intact and then make the decision themselves when they reach the age of 14? I know this is contrary to religious doctrine; however, when do a child’s rights supersede ancient practices?

Dad gets 12-19 years in prison for suffocation death of 9-month-old son (Casper, Wyoming)

This case sounds awfully familiar, so I know we've reported on dad SAMUEL EUGENE MCGEHEE before. The guy suffocated his 9-month-old son--allegedly to "get him to nap." Clueless bastard. This moron also has a history of do-it-yourself circumcisions on another son--a 3-month-old who was mutilated when Daddy took a fillet knife to him. This father is a freaking menace.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_4f64b9ce-de5e-11df-9839-001cc4c03286.html

Judge rejects pleas for leniency, imposes 12-to-19-year sentence

Father of boy who died gets prison

WILLIAM BROWNING
Casper Star-Tribune The Billings Gazette Posted: Friday, October 22, 2010 11:45 pm (15) Comments

CASPER — Samuel Eugene McGehee shut his eyes in court Friday when his attorney played a recording of the police interrogation made the day his son died.

The recording revealed the then 38-year-old McGehee sobbing uncontrollably hours after his 9-month-old son died of asphyxiation. The courtroom, with every aisle full, remained silent as the chilling sound of a father, struggling to catch his breath in the wake of a child’s death, piped out of the courtroom’s speakers.

Authorities say McGehee wrapped the child’s head in a coat in an attempt to get him to take a nap on the afternoon of Nov. 15. His wife, after returning to their Casper home from a trip to Eastridge Mall, found the infant’s lifeless body. Police would find the boy’s vomit in the coat’s sleeve — indications, they said, of him struggling to catch his breath.

Admits guilt

In June, McGehee pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for his role in the death. On Friday, Natrona County District Judge Scott Skavdahl sentenced him to 10 to 15 years in the Wyoming State Penitentiary.

For another charge McGehee pleaded guilty to — felony child abuse dating back to 2008 — he received an additional two to four years in prison. That charge came about after McGehee attempted to circumcise another one of his children at home. He used a fillet knife to carry out the procedure, and the boy, 3 months old at the time, has undergone extensive reconstructive surgeries as a result.

District Attorney Michael Blonigen asked for a 15- to 20-year sentence for the manslaughter charge and a three- to five-year sentence for the child abuse.

“The lives of two young boys were forever changed before the age of 1,” the prosecutor told the court. “One lost his life, one was mutilated by his father.”

Man a ‘tyrant’

Blonigen, in making the argument, described McGehee as a “tyrant more than a parent.”

“At the end of the day, he mutilated one child and caused the death of another.”

Defense attorney Rob Oldham, though, painted a different picture of McGehee.

“Mr. Blonigen’s rendition is just a gross and distorted version to make it look like murder,” he said, referencing the original charge of murder prosecutors placed on McGehee.

Oldham said no evidence pointed to his client trying to kill his child, saying, “It was an accident caused by bad judgment.”

The attorney said McGehee put the coat over the child’s head, in part to keep sunlight out of his eyes.

Turning to the circumcision, Oldham said McGehee and his wife attempted to carry out the procedure at home because they were struggling financially, had deep religious convictions and were facing growing pressure from family members.

Oldham asked for his client to be sentenced to one year in the Natrona County Detention Center and then be placed in Casper ReEntry Center where he could receive counseling.

“Our request is simple,” he said. “A year in jail, some CAC, and let this man go home.”

McGehee’s wife, weeping, asked the judge to allow her husband to provide for his family. In doing so, she described a man who loved her and their children to the point where he, trying to save money, went to work in threadbare clothing and with holes in his shoes.

“My husband was never abusive to our children,” she said. “I do not condone what happened to my son. And I know I will always grieve the loss of him. (But) it would not be advantageous to send him to prison for an extended amount of time.”

Given a chance to speak at the sentencing, McGehee, 39, read two letters he wrote his sons. He cried so hard while reading the letters that he was, at times, incoherent. One sentence heard clearly in the courtroom, from the letter he wrote to his deceased son, read, “I will always remember the sparkle in your eyes.”

Skavdahl, before announcing the prison sentence, spoke briefly, saying no one will ever know what was going through McGehee’s mind the days the two incidents occurred.

“The bottom line is, he was abusive to his son when he cut off his foreskin with a fillet knife,” the judge said. “(And) I have a child who lived 9 months and will never breathe another breath again.”

Contact William Browning at william.browning@trib.com or 307-266-0534.

Dad kills son in "ritual sacrifice;" had possession of child after he "chased off" mother (Kisowera, Uganda)

Apart from the role played out by the witchdoctor, this story could have taken place anywhere in the world where an abusive father has "chased off " or excluded a mother from protecting and caring for her child. In this case, dad DAVID MWESIGYE suffocated his 1-year-old son to death and "partially detached" his genitals. The mother, who was separated from the father, had been attempting to see the baby, but had been prevented from doing so.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/detail.php?newsCategoryId=12&newsId=729360

Father kills son in ‘ritual sacrifice’
Friday, 20th August, 2010

By John Semakula and Henry Nsubuga

DAVID Mwesigye suffocated his son to death. He then carried the body from his home in Kisowera along the Mukono-Kayunga road to Godfrey Ssajjabi, a witchdoctor in Kigunga, about 15km on the Kampala-Jinja highway.

Under the cover of darkness, the two dug a hole at the edge of the witchdoctor’s compound, placed the body in the hole and planted a banana sucker to avoid suspicion.

It was Saturday 23rd September, 2007. Only Mwesigye and the witchdoctor knew that little Derrick Mutebi was no more. At the age of one and a half years, he had been brutally killed by his father, a television technician, the very person who was supposed to nurture him.

By coincidence the boy’s mother, Ephransi Namuddu, who had separated from Mwesigye, felt the urge to go and see her son.

When she did not find her son in the house, Mwesigye lied to her that the boy was living with his grandmother in Maganjo on the Kampala-Gayaza road.

She went all the way to Maganjo, only to be told that Mwesigye had not taken the boy there. It was then that she reported to Police that her son had gone missing.

Mwesigye was arrested and he led Police to the witchdoctor’s place where they had buried the body. Police exhumed the body and took it to Kawolo Hospital for a postmortem.

As Mwesige confessed in court on Wednesday, he could not come to terms with what he had done to his own son.

He broke down and cried while testifying before a special High Court Session in Mukono which was presided over by Justice Jane Kiggundu.

“I didn’t intend to kill him. I was only disciplining him,” he pleaded.

Initially Mwesigye claimed that the boy had been electrocuted. But his landlord, Katende Bumali, testified that he did not have electricity in the house.

Later he changed, claiming he was only administering a disciplinary beating when they boy died. But the post-mortem report from Lugazi hospital showed that the boy suffocated to death.

The report also showed that the child’s genitals were partially detached.

Left with no other lie to tell, the two pleaded guilty. But they pleaded for lenience arguing that they were first offenders.

Mwesigye added that he had learnt a bitter lesson that it was not proper to punish a child like an animal, and that he would not repeat the offence.

Their lawyer, Musa Sembajja, also asked court to be lenient to them by giving them the minimum sentences because they had not wasted court’s time by denying the offence.

The lawyer further asked that the witchdoctor should be given a lighter sentence of seven years in jail since he did not participate in the killing. “He only accepted to have the body buried at his place.

The only offense he committed was that he never informed Police.”

But the Resident State Attorney Gladys Nyanzi asked court to give the duo a maximum sentence, which is death.

She argued that killing one’s own child and cutting off the genitals was strong evidence of ritual murder, for which the two should be severely punished.

Nyanzi said that by killing the boy, Mwesigye violated the responsibility given to him by the Constitution to protect his children’s rights to life.

“The boy suffered twice when Mwesigye chased his mother from home and when he killed him.

This is a case of murder of a child. It is one of the child sacrifice cases which are rampant in Uganda today. It is my request that in your sentence you show that murder is punishable in the courts of law,” she added.

Nyanzi explained that Ssajjabi was equally responsible for killing the boy because he did not report the matter to the Police.

“Child sacrifice is an inhuman habit that must be fought. Scenarios have shown that body parts of human beings are on a high demand by the witchdoctors.

The deceased’s genitals were partially detached meaning that they were the target,” she said. “I therefore appeal for the same sentence for Ssajjabi.”

The ruling was set to be made yesterday but the judge postponed it to Monday after the defence lawyer asked for an opportunity for his clients to make an additional plea.

He argues that much as they pleaded guilty to the murder, it was not ritual sacrifice as depicted by prosecution.

Boy who lived with father dies after "horrific abuse" (Kansas City, Missouri)

It is is expected that charges against dad REY A. CRUZ SR., who is now charged with assault and child endangerment, will be upgraded now that his 1-year-old son has died. This POS basically tortured this boy over several days--all because Daddy was supposedly "frustrated" over the boy's crying. The mother did not live in the home, as she is in prison for some unspecified crime.

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/10/1937431/year-old-boy-who-died-after-horrific.html

Year-old boy who died after horrific abuse is identified
More News

Kansas City police on Monday identified a 1-year-old boy who died over the weekend after horrific abuse.

Doctors declared Rey A. Cruz Jr. brain dead Friday, and his family donated his organs over the weekend.

Prosecutors on Thursday charged the boy’s father, Rey A. Cruz Sr., 19, with assault and child endangerment. Police are seeking to upgrade the charges in light of the boy’s death.

Investigators said the boy lived with his father and two other relatives. The boy’s mother is in prison, police said, and the father had been moving around.

Police were called to the boy’s home in the 1300 block of Monroe Avenue about 2:35 a.m. Thursday, where they found him struggling to breathe. He had bruises “all over his body,” according to police. The boy had 10 fresh rib fractures, bruises on his genitals and hemorrhaging in his eyes.

Court records said Cruz threw the boy to the floor, slapped his head, hit him in the face and punched him in the abdomen over several days last week because he was frustrated with the boy’s crying.

The boy’s death was the 38th homicide of the year.

Christine Vendel, cvendel@kcstar.com

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/10/1937431/year-old-boy-who-died-after-horrific.html#ixzz0ndIebeTx

Dad on trial for "bungling" circumcision of 4-year-old son (Vancouver, Canada)

The dad--identified here only as D. J.W.--was convicted of criminal negligence last October for "botching" the home circumcision of his 4-year-old son. The prosecutor is now saying that Dad needs some jail time to deter future criminal conduct, especially since the father refuses to acknowledge any wrong doing in the incident. These religious wingnuts never do.

http://www.leaderpost.com/health/bungled+circumcision+should+jailed+Crown/2722361/story.html

B.C. dad who bungled son's circumcision should be jailed: Crown

By Keith Fraser, Vancouver Province
March 24, 2010

VANCOUVER — A B.C. man who botched the circumcision of his four-year-old son — a few years after managing to infect his own penis while circumcising himself — needs a jail term to deter and denounce his criminal conduct, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

The father, who can only be identified by the initials D.J.W. due to a publication ban, was found guilty in October of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

Court heard he told his son in April 2007 that the circumcision would grant him "extra special protection from God" and allow him to eat Passover lamb, ice cream and that the boy could then pick all the movies he wanted for a week.

The judge found D.J.W. had given his son honey wine before placing him on some garbage bags on the kitchen floor.

Wielding a razor blade, the father tried to cut away the foreskin of the little boy's penis.

After making several cuts over a cutting board, he sprinkled an ash-like powder called Wonder Dust on his son. The substance is normally used to treat wounds for race horses and other animals and is not deemed fit for use on humans.

The boy was later taken to hospital and the circumcision completed. The judge found the boy had been hurt and determined that the father's actions amounted to a wanton and reckless disregard for his son.

Prosecutor Daniel Porte told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Marion Allan the father does not accept that what he did is wrong, or criminal.

He said the actions of the man, who was untrained in medical procedures and ignored the advice of doctors, were clearly planned and deliberate and need to be denounced.

"The trust a child has in a parent, the authority a parent has over a child, is an awesome responsibility, not to be taken lightly, not to be refused," said Porte. "In the Crown's submission the offender abused that sacred trust. He must be personally deterred from abusing that trust in the future.

"He knew the risks of a home circumcision. He ignored those risks, for his own selfish reasons."

Porte called for a jail term of between 12 and 24 months to be followed by three years probation.

Court has heard that D.J.W.'s mother raised him as a Jehovah's Witness, but he left the church. Court has heard he believes circumcisions are required for religious reasons.

In late 2004 or early 2005, D.J.W. circumcised himself, using Band-Aids, peroxide and a roll of gauze and a clear plastic ring, which he believed would act as an anesthetic. He cut himself with a razor blade. The procedure infected his penis.

Before Wednesday's proceedings began, Doug Christie, the accused's trial lawyer, told the judge that he had been dismissed.

He also attempted to have a Vancouver Province reporter excluded from the courtroom over concerns about news coverage, but the judge said the proceedings were open to the public and added she wasn't interested in his opinions of the press.

After Porte finished his sentencing submissions, the accused asked for and was granted an adjournment to make submissions on his own behalf starting Thursday.

Dad botched "circumcision" on son, calls prosecution 'wicked' (Vancouver, Canada)

This has got to be the third case we have posted here at Dastardly on a dad (here identifed as only D. J. W.) doing a "do-it-yourself" circumcision (read: genital mutilation) on his son. Is this a trend among nutso religious-type fathers? God help us if it's true. The Freudians would have a field day on this.

http://www.canada.com/botched+circumcision+calls+prosecution+wicked/2329547/story.html

Dad botched circumcision on son, calls prosecution 'wicked'

By Keith Fraser, Canwest News ServiceDecember 11, 2009

A Vancouver man who botched the circumcision of his four-year-old son -- a few years after managing to infect his own penis while circumcising himself -- should be jailed for 12 to 24 months, a prosecutor says.

A sentencing hearing began Thursday for the man, who called the case against him a "miscarriage of justice."

The man, who can only be identified by the initials D.J.W., was convicted of criminal negligence causing bodily harm after the April 2007 incident.

B.C. Supreme Court Madam Justice Marion Allan found that D.J.W. had given his son honey wine before placing him on some garbage bags on the kitchen floor.

He told his son the circumcision would grant DJ "extra special protection from God" and allow him to eat Passover lamb, ice cream and that the boy could then pick all the movies he wanted for a week.

Wielding a razor blade, the father tried to cut away the foreskin on the boy's penis.

After making several cuts over a cutting board, the father sprinkled an ash-like powder called Wonder Dust on his son. The substance is normally used to treat wounds for race horses and other animals and is not deemed fit for use on humans.

The boy was later taken to hospital for treatment and the circumcision was completed.

On Thursday, the father reacted angrily to questioning by prosecutor Daniel Porte about whether he would be willing to do another circumcision.

"You're just taking advantage of me because I'm poor," said D.J.W. "You're taking advantage of me because I didn't have money to compel rabbis and other experts to come here and testify. What you're doing is rotten and wicked. This is a miscarriage of justice."

Doug Christie, the father's lawyer, said he would be looking for a period of probation with counselling provisions. The judge said she wouldn't rule out a conditional sentence.

The judge said Thursday that a psychiatric report ordered by the court was full of errors and needed to be done again.

The hearing was adjourned to March 25 to allow a new psychiatric report to be prepared.