A Florida woman, Heather Hironimus, fled with her 4-year-old son nearly 3 months ago, to avoid her sons' the circumcision. But a judge ruled on Friday that, she will face imprisonment if she doesn't return and allow the surgery to proceed.
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Mother who fled with her son faces jail
Heather initially agreed with the boys father to circumcised their son but she later changed her mind, thus, causing a long legal battle.
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The judge issued a scalding rebuke for her refusal to appear in court, charging her with contempt and issuing an arrest warrant. She was taken into custody Thursday, her attorney Thomas Hunker said, declining to release further details.
Hironimus and the boy's father, Dennis Nebus, have been fighting since her pregnancy. They were never married but share custody of their child, and in a parenting agreement filed in court, the two agreed to the boy's circumcision.
However, the mother later changed her mind thus causing the long legal battle. Circuit and appellate judges have sided with the father, but potential surgeons have backed out after failing to get the mother's consent and being targeted by anti-circumcision protesters.
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Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen said, she will only avoid jail on the contempt charge, if she signs paperwork necessary to schedule the procedure that she initially agreed to in a legal document.
'This child has been placed in a light that provides much too much scrutiny for a little boy,' the judge said. 'I blame no one but the mother for that.'
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