A woman in Charlotte, North Carolina reported to jail Friday after she was sentenced for baptizing her daughter. The case started when Kendra Stocks and Paul Schaaf were in a custody battle over their daughter and the two could not agree on terms for their daughter's baptism.
"It’s just very sad. It’s all just a very sad situation," Stocks said. According to court records, the girl's father is a practicing Catholic who attends Mass every week and the court granted him final decision making authority on all legal custody decisions, including those concerning religion.
The judge warned the parents could go to jail if they ignored the warning, but the next day Stocks went out and baptized her daughter. A court document said, "the mother has acted selfishly by depriving the father of the ability to be present at an event that was extraordinarily important to him."
Stocks was found in contempt of court for baptizing her daughter without the girl's father's permission. Before turning herself into jail, Stocks said, "I'll get through it and hopefully come out a better person."
"Her father and I both agreed on baptizing her. I regret that he wasn't part of it, but I don't regret we’re raising her in the Catholic faith, which is what we both wanted," she said. Stocks was led off and searched by a female deputy to serve a seven-day sentence for contempt of court.
Carol Stocks, Kendra Stocks mother, said, "She's wonderful. They play all the time. She teaches them things. She's an incredible loving mother."
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Baptism is actually a Christian act. Not a Catholic act. I hope it was in the name of Christ and not Mary or many different Saints.
Should have been Muslim. Would have walked.