Tarzana Man Is Charged in Tattooing of Teen-Age Girl : Law: The case may be the first time that the prohibition is invoked locally. A city attorney says youth was told it would wash off.

VAN NUYS — In what may be the first local use of the law banning the tattooing of minors, prosecutors have charged a Tarzana man with tattooing a 16-year-old girl who mistakenly thought the artwork could be washed off.

The city attorney’s office on Friday charged Edward Flores, 27, with placing a tattoo of a rose on the right arm of Rebecca Bateman, a 10th-grade student who lives in Flores’ apartment building on Clark Street.

“I guess what she thought is he was writing it with a pen,” said Deputy City Atty. Martha A. Gutierrez.

The incident occurred New Year’s Eve in Flores’ apartment, according to authorities, who said Flores put temporary tattoos on several other people during the same gathering.

“She asked him if it would come off,” Gutierrez said, and Flores told the teen-ager that “it would not be permanent, it would wash off in a few days.”

Bateman’s family contacted police when the 2-inch-by-5-inch rose tattoo did not come off.

After the complaint was made, police went to Flores’ apartment, where they recovered a small tattooing device. “The rig they confiscated operated on two D-cell (batteries),” Gutierrez said.

Prosecutors said they were not aware of any prior cases involving the unlawful tattooing of a minor.

Gutierrez said her office mailed Flores notice of the charges. The letter orders him to appear in Van Nuys Municipal Court on March 1 for an arraignment.

The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of six months in County Jail and a possible $1,000 fine.