9-year-old American flag tattoo
An Arizona tattoo artist blasted for tattooing an American flag on a 9-year-old girl is defending his work by saying it could have been worse after the child allegedly originally asked for Donald Trump’s face “on her neck.” @cutzsosa/Instagram

An Arizona tattoo artist blasted for tattooing an American flag on a 9-year-old girl is defending his work by saying it could have been worse after the child allegedly originally asked for Donald Trump's face "on her neck."

Sosa, a tattoo artist in Yuma, shared an Instagram reel Jan. 2 with the story behind his experience with the young customer.

"The client 'the young girl' wanted a portrait of a @realdonaldtrump on her neck but I convinced her to do a more patriotic tattoo. Told her in a year if she still wanted the trump then to get it but to think on it," the tattoo artist wrote in the video's caption.

Sosa said he tried to "scare them away" by telling the family it would cost $500 instead of the typical $80 he would charge. However, the family was ready to pay the high cost.

While the tattoo artist said the incident happened a year ago, as he said the now-10-year-old getting came back to get her arm tattoo touched up, the artist faced heavy backlash from social media users.

"I'm heavily tattooed and I believe anyone involved in this should be prosecuted and put in jail," one user commented. "You can't control the parents but you can control your own actions and should have refused service," another wrote.

Tattooing minors in Arizona is legal so long as the child is accompanied by a parent or guardian, and has their permission, as reported by KPHO.

The tattoo artist defended his work from the backlash, explaining that he felt moved by the family's story after hearing that they had come to the U.S. from Turkey.

"Being an artist and businessman, you also have to know the cultures they come from," Sosa told KPHO. "They were just very grateful to be here in the United States. They were just being grateful. They said they saw Donald Trump as a hero."

The artist added that the young girl did tell him during her touch-up that she had changed her mind against getting a Trump tattoo. Sosa added that he was not promoting tattooing children, and that he typically only tattoos individuals 15 and older.

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