The young woman at the centre of a bitter court battle between her parents after her father allowed her to get a tattoo at 16 has got more ink to honour her dad.
Brad Victory, 45, took his daughter Casey to Picton Tattoos in Sydney’s south-west in 2019 to get a small tattoo of a dream catcher above her ankle.
Her livid mother Nadene Rae Rees then tried to get her ex-husband jailed and demanded the laws change to prevent children from getting inked.
He faced five years in jail if he was found guilty, but had signed a permission slip needed for a child to get the ink.
On her 18th birthday, Casey went back to Picton Tattoos and got a large rose and rosary beads on her forearm reading: ‘Dad, Pop, Nan – where there is family there is love’.
Casey, now 18, was at the centre of a court dispute after her mother brought charges against her father for allowing her to get a tattoo when she was 16
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
Bradley Victory (pictured), 45, from was charged over his teenage daughter’s tattoo
Casey said the tattooist made a joke when she walked back in the shop, but she made it clear she was now of age and didn’t need a permission slip.
‘We went to the tattoo place and they said “you’re back again” and I said, “yep, Dad’s not signing this one”… we had a good laugh,’ she told the Telegraph.
Her new tattoo, which spans the majority of her forearm, pays tribute to her dad and grandparents – who she says ‘absolutely love it’.
‘He said I did a good job picking this one and he’s proud of me,’ she said.
Mr Victory’s charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm was dropped in November, 2020 which led to her mother 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.
She stressed that depending on custody arrangements, a child shouldn’t get a tattoo without both parents’ 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”,’ she said.
‘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.’
Casey, who is now 18, says the tattooist made a joke when she walked back in the shop, but she made it clear she was now of age and didn’t need a permission slip
Nadene Rae Rees (pictured) is calling for changes to the law to stop children under the age of 18 to get tattoos
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 in more than 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 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.
Brad Victory and his daughter Casey (pictured when she was a toddler) have always been extremely close
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
The dream catcher 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 knew he would 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,’ Sydney lawyer Sam Macedone said.
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.
‘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.’