Furious mum who tried to get her ex JAILED for letting their daughter, 16, get a tattoo demands the law be changed to prevent children being inked

A livid mother who tried to get her ex-husband jailed after letting their daughter get a tattoo has demanded the laws change to prevent children from getting inked.  

Brad Victory, 45, took his daughter Casey, then 16, to Picton Tattoos in Sydney's south-west last year to get a small tattoo of a dream catcher above her ankle.

He signed the permission slip which was needed for a child under the age of 18 to go ahead with the tattoo. 

His ex-wife and Casey's mother Nadene Rae Rees was furious when she discovered the tattoo, and he faced five years in prison if he was convicted of a crime.

Nadene Rae Rees is calling for changes to the law to stop children under the age of 18 to get tattoos  

Brad Victory and his daughter Casey (pictured when she was a toddler) have always been extremely close 

But his charge of assault occasioning ­actual bodily harm was dropped last month, and Ms Rae Rees is calling for changes to the law to prevent children from being inked.   

'The law should be changed to be in line with other states which do not allow children under the age of 18 to have a tattoo,' she told The Daily Telegraph.

Bradley Victory , 45, from was charged over his teenage daughter's tattoo

She stressed that depending on custody arrangements a child under the age of 18 shouldn't get a tattoo without both parent's permission.   

'The tattoo industry should be made aware of the Children & Young Persons Act and the proper definition of parent which is a ''person who has all the rights duties and responsibilities under law''.

'All parents, unless there are court orders that give a parent sole parental responsibility, have equal shared parental responsibility and both parents should agree to major long-term decisions.'  

Mr Victory told A Current Affair he didn't think Ms Rae Rees deserved an input in the decision given she hadn't spoken to Casey, now 17, in three years.

'I didn't think she needed to know, because she doesn't have anything to do with Casey,' he said, when the charges were dropped. 

He never considered pleading guilty to the charge even when the case attracted significant public attention.

'I'll do anything for Casey. I would go to extremes to protect my daughter and all my kids. They mean the world to me,' he said.

Casey Victory was 16 when she got a tattoo of a dream catcher on her ankle

Casey said she felt she'd 'hit the jackpot' with her relationship with her truck driver dad.

'He's the best dad I could ever ask for,' she said.

'He does everything for me. Teaches me how to do stuff, I can go to him about anything, when I need help, he's always there for me.'

But she previously said she never expected the decision would cause her beloved dad so much grief.

'I thought it would be nice to have a nice dream catcher on my ankle,' she said.

The dream catcher symbolises good luck in native American culture and the image had a significant meaning for the teenager at the time.

The dream catcher (pictured, Casey's tattoo) symbolises good luck in native American culture and the image had a significant meaning for the teenager at the time

Mr Victory told the program he wouldn't have agreed to the tattoo if he'd known he'd end up before the courts. 

'If I thought it was going to cause this much drama I would have waited until she was 18, and it would have saved me and her a lot of grief,' he said.

'Casey came to me and asked me "dad, can I get a tattoo?" She said "I really want a tattoo, I want to put the past behind me",' Mr Victory said.

'I've got tattoos, so I can't really be a hypocrite.' 

'This is not common at all in a criminal court. This is a matter between ex-husband, ex-wife. To have a criminal prosecution, where one parent gives consent to his daughter to get a tattoo - which is quite legal - then I don't understand what this is all about,' Sydney lawyer Sam Macedone said.

'There are other ways of dealing with this matter. But having this man charged with wounding his daughter or assaulting her is, in my mind, ridiculous.'