LENOIR -- A father who admitted he circumcised his infant son with a box cutter was convicted of misdemeanor child abuse and sentenced Friday to 150 days in prison.
Johnny Eric Marlowe, 33, will serve the sentence after serving time for previous crimes, The News-Topic of Lenoir reported.
Marlowe had been charged with two felony counts of child abuse after prosecutors said he circumcised two newborn sons without anesthesia when each was just days old in 2005 and in 2006.
But the Caldwell County jury convicted Marlowe with a misdemeanor on one child abuse charge and deadlocked on the second, leading the judge to declare a mistrial on that charge.
Marlowe's ex-wife, Amber, asked Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin to impose the maximum possible sentence.
"Please help us to keep our children safe," she said for herself and Sara Fleming, the other mother to Marlowe's children.
Amber Marlowe testified that one of the young boys bled for nearly 11 hours after Marlowe performed his circumcision. Marlowe admitted he had no formal training and gained most of his knowledge about the procedure from watching videos on the Internet.
The father of 14 children testified Wednesday he also has circumcised himself. He told jurors: "God, the Holy Spirit pressed me to do this. When God presses something on you to do it, you do it."
Marlowe, who represented himself at the trial, filed a notice of appeal for Thursday's conviction.
Marlowe was convicted in May of first-degree kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, assault on a female, and other charges.
A state Correction Department spokesman said it was not clear he had been sentenced for those crimes.
