Police phoned after child's ears pierced

Witchita, Kan. -- A woman called police to a Wichita, Kan., Wal-Mart after witnessing a store employee pierce the ears of a screaming child

Marilyn Johnson said the store employee and the girl's mother were ignoring the young girl's screams, she confronted the pair, The Wichita Eagle reported Wednesday. However, she said the mother and employee ignored her questions so she phoned police and reported the incident as child abuse.

"This little girl was about 5 years old and was crying her eyes out," Johnson said. "Her face was beet red, and she was screaming and coughing and saying things like, 'I don't want this! It hurts! Please stop!' She was grabbing her ears so the adults couldn't touch them.

"I saw a child crying and screaming and pleading for someone not to do something to her," she said. "And if that's not child abuse, I don't know what is."

However, police who arrived on the scene informed Johnson that she was in the wrong. Wichita police spokesman Gordon Bassham said neither the girl's mother nor the employee doing the piercing had broken the law.

A Wal-Mart store official said Johnson, who was issued a warning for trespassing, will no longer be allowed in the establishment.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.