BC father guilty of assault for son’s botched circumcision
Posted November 16, 2012 12:37 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A BC dad who botched the circumcision of his four-year-old son on the kitchen floor of their home using a carpet cutting blade has been found guilty on three charges.
The man wanted Canada’s highest court to take his religious beliefs into consideration. He said over the years after his son’s birth, he wanted to “make things right with God” by following the laws of Moses, which included circumcision.
He was originally convicted of criminal negligence causing bodily harm in the matter, but was acquitted of aggravated assault and assault using a weapon. The Crown appealed the acquittals and now he’s been convicted for those two offences; it entered a stay for the conviction of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
The boy needed corrective surgery to repair the damage from the botched procedure.
The man’s lawyer, Doug Christie, says it’s a sad day for people who, out of sincere religious conviction, do something that perhaps does not result in real or substantial harm.
“The government can make an honest person into a criminal by actually making it illegal to do what their religion requires,” says Christie.
He says his client couldn’t afford to go through the medical system to get the procedure done for his son. “The medical plan does not pay for circumcision anymore, and in some circumstances like this, a person might not have the money to pay.”
Christie adds he thinks the father felt he had to perform the circumcision himself.
The man is only identified as DJW; his name is not being released to protect his son’s identity.
