Teen's mom: My son ended up in the ER after getting tattoos
NEWBERG, Ore. – A mother said tattoos sent her son to the emergency room after they were given to him illegally by a high school student.
Misty Hines said her son had two tattoos done recently, while he was still 17. She had no idea where they came from until police got involved.
Stephen Matt Lister, 18, was arrested after police started investigating him in late September following a complaint from the school's nurse to the Newberg High School Resource Officer, who is a member of the Newberg Police Department.
“I would have never thought my son was getting a tattoo the night he stayed at Matt’s until he showed me,” Hines said. “I don’t know if Matt’s licensed. I didn’t know if Matt was doing it out of his home.”
Hines said about one week later she took her son to the emergency room because he was feeling sick.
“I thought he had a collapsed lung, he also had a large open wound on the back of his right arm from where he got the tattoo.”
Newberg Police said Lister gave tattoos to at least 10 students at his apartment with a tattoo gun and without a license. At least two of the students were diagnosed with MRSA infections, a staph infection that is resistant to antibiotics. Investigators said they worried Lister was reusing some of the ink.
Police said they also learned Lister was having sexual relationships with young girls who attended the school.
Lister faces numerous charges, including 10 counts of performing services in a field of practice without a license, three counts of third-degree sex abuse, two counts of third-degree sodomy and three counts of third-degree rape.
Lister’s brother told KATU News that his brother gave him a tattoo but he didn’t know if he was giving tattoos to other people.
“He’s really good at drawing. I told him we could pursue it that way. Now he’s getting in trouble for doing tattoos,” said Jessy Seltus. “I’ve never seen him do a tattoo on anybody else.”
Lister is now in the Yamhill County Jail. He called his Seltus while KATU News was interviewing him and said he’s not guilty.
Investigators are urging parents to get their children checked by a doctor if they spot any new tattoos.
Hines said she still doesn’t know if her son has MRSA or not.
“I feel sorry for the families. It’s not something a kid should have to go through,” Hines said. “What he’s done has ruined so many lives.”
Maybe sonny-boy should have paid more attention in class when they were going over bacteria, infections and antibiotics? You're in school for a reason, son- and failure to pay attention has costs.
This story absolutely disgusts me. Oregon needs to change it's age of consent law. 16 and 17 year olds need to take responsibility for spreading their legs. And parents want to get upset that their kids have illegal tattoos. Go after your kid who was stupid enough to do it. I worry this guy, dumb and immature as he may be, may have his future devastated by this coverage being plastered everywhere and labeled a sex offender which he clearly is not. As a mother and woman, this isn't the person to be afraid of.
 @PeachyGA I agree!!! Our consent law is the strictest, only 13 states have this LAW saying that you have to be 18 years old to consent. Well said -Sexualy active 16 and 17 year olds need to take responsibility for spreading their legs. Very sad when you also put in the fact that we have Measure 11. Double Whamy for these TEENAGERS. This is 2012.
Â
These are teenagers acting stupid and without full thought, but not malicious.
Â
Also mom, staph is nothing to mess around with. Demand a blood culture if you have not already done so. If positive, they should be able to tell you within 24-48 hours what strain of staph you have. Ending up in the infectious disease wing of a hospital is no fun stay. Serious stuff. Stay alert for sudden fever and / or any unexplained body pain.Â
kids do stupid stuff. the tat pictured doesn't look so bad. He can draw well. I don't really kow if this kid is the villian he is made out to be, or just a kid. And is it rape because he is now over 18, or was this consenual between high school kids.
ahh.. life is not always black and white.. there are at least 50 shdes of grey. eh?
>âI feel sorry for the families. Itâs not something a kid should have to go through,â Hines said. âWhat heâs done has ruined so many lives.â
Â
Of course... He's ruined so many lives.... It simply couldn't be that your son made a rash, unwise choice... No, certainly not. It's Mr  Lister who is to blame for all of this.Â
Â
Or, we could take the rational, level-headed approach and realize that while Mr Lister has committed a crime for which he will (and should) be punished, your children were just as complicit in the behaviors as was Mr Lister....
Â
Naaaaaaaa... It's all HIS fault.Â
No mom it is your idiot son who is to blame, now take his sorry but to the ER get it taken care of and stop complaining.
Wouldn't it be great if parents took responsibility for poor parenting and didn't just blame the person that gave the tattoo to her son. But it is always someone else to blame in the US, no personal responsibility.
 @SR this is not a case of poor parenting. It's a case of a punk 17 year old getting a tattoo illegally. the fault is with the boys - NOT the parents.
 @wondering  @SR Right..all well raised kids want to get tattoos from a friend..if you say so.
Once upon a time there was a drunk 19 year old sailor in the big town of Bangkok. Extremely proud of his squadron  he decided to get an "8 Ball" tattooed on his arm, and with all the courage alcohol can produce went into a parlor and proceeded to have a tattoo etched on his arm. When that sailor woke up the next day he happened to notice that he had an Eyeball tattooed instead of the 8 Ball he asked for. To this day that sailors wife will not allow him to have the artwork repaired for 2 reasons... 1) It will always remind the sailor what an idiot he can be at times, and 2) If that sailor gets greased in a plane crash that tattoo will probably be the only way his corpse will be identified.
 So IF you decide to get a tattoo make sure you are sober enough to notice if the "Artist" can speak english well enough to understand the difference between "8 Ball", and "Eyeball".
People don't have to be born with the mark of being stupid. They get tattoos from other idiots.
Kinda of like neck or face tattoos.
Dear Mom,
Your son is an idiot, and that tattoo is fugly.
How ironic that he got a Mom tattoo that ultimately ended with Mom taking him to the ER! I'm sure they will never regret that crooked artwork, either. Oh well, kids don't always have great judgment. This is definitely one of those times.
They all should have known better, but did not want to listen to their parents probably. The artwork is not that great either. Now all of them need to learn from this. The kid that did it hopefully will have to be accountable for his actions. All of them are to blame. The parents should have instilled some common sense in their kids...even just a minor bit. Hopefully the sick kids get better, and hopefully any other not so bright kids come forward to be checked out.
Â
"He called his Seltus while KATU News was interviewing him and said heâs not guilty."What?
Proofreading on weekends is not part of the job description!
 @jpk Proofreading is not part of the job description at KATU. Or KGW. Or any of the rest. I suppose we could point to the poor grammar and egregious errors and suggest that we're not spending enough money on education, though. Perhaps that's what they're leading up to?
looks like a jail house tattoo. I wonder if he used melted down shoe soles for the ink.
 @LostSoul ...or soot (carbon black, the pigment) from burning plastic ( a pen tube, a disposable spoon, etc) that's collected on something placed about a foot over the flame, mixed with shampoo (medium).  Endless possibilities; hard to keep carbon away from inmates.
@LostSoul Jailhouse tattoos sometimes consist of inks reduced from newsprint and/or pages and covers of the free Bibles handed out to inmates. Needles are actually staples holding their legal papers together. Anything and everything inmates can get their hands on can be effectively converted to other uses. Â
@jpk hence the fine art of keestering
How about holding your kids accountable? If they're dumb enough to do the crime (getting inked at a person's house who doesn't have a sterile environment and supplies) then they are capable of doing the time. Honestly, this is why laws are in place--to protect people from themselves. If your judgement is bad enough to believe you are above the law and you seek out a way to circumvent it, then you are setting yourself up for a situation that turns out badly. No sympathy. Sure, the guy was stupid for doing the tats--but the sick kids have no one to blame but themselves.
 @Melissa Stidham-Clary LOL! That's why they're called "kids!" They've been circumventing legal and parental authority from the beginning of recorded history. Some understand and refrain, some require a painful lesson to learn, some never learn, some never live to learn. Hopefully these kids survive this ordeal and serve as a lesson to others.
Â
And just because someone is 18 doesn't mean they are fully aware of the laws and the consequences of their actions (heck, a lot of "adults" fit that description). Peer pressure is a tremendous force, and often wins out when kids make decisions.
Â
So instead of dragging them over the coals, strapping them to the rack or shutting them up in a hanging cage, parents should turn this into a learning experience. They're supposed to trust you, and going off the deep end or treating them like criminals isn't going to help.
Â
Support, compassion and love are far better tools for teaching children than shame, ridicule, or apathy.
 @Mikey  @Melissa Stidham-Clary Mikey, I think this comment: Hines said. âWhat heâs done has ruined so many lives.â is so over dramatic it's almost comical. A tat and infection didn't ruin her kids life. Even if it turns out to be MRSA (they treat most serious infections as MRSA, while they wait for the results, these days) it's hardly life destroying. Hate to see what her coping mechanisms would be like in a real, life ruining situation. Maybe her kid quit listening to her over the top dramatics, long ago.
Why s a TEEN getting a tattoo in the first place? Recycling is good but not for tattoo supplies. Disposable, sterile, individually wrapped needles, tubes, and grips are MUCH cheaper than the stuff you have to autoclave anyway. But then there is the ink... Even "bad" ink can give you an infection. NEVER use inks that are made in China. They have toxic levels of heavy metals and they are not sterilized. Any number of factors could have given these kids MRSA. The  guy should have been certified if he was inking people. ESPECIALLY if they were under age. This guy really gives tattooists a bad name.
 @PDXBEAR The guy was a teen himself, at the high school these kids attended. So crazy. I know a lot of teens don't want to wait until they are legal to get tats, but honestly...the inconvenience of a law is a lot better than the resulting infections you can get from going to someone unlicensed.