BUTLER TWP — A 15-year-old Lyndora boy is accused of giving a tattoo to another 15-year-old boy last month, authorities said.

Butler Township police this week charged the young tattooist in Butler County juvenile court with tattooing a minor, a third-degree misdemeanor.

The police investigation began after the victim’s parents on Feb. 26 discovered their son’s tattoo and notified authorities. They told police that they did not give consent for his tattoo.

The tattoo was “on a part of the body that could be seen by anyone,” police Lt. Matthew Pearson said this morning. He would not elaborate.

The 1½-by-3-inch tattoo was a word in black, block lettering. Pearson would not identify the word, which was not derogatory or obscene.

Police went to the suspect’s home on Bessemer Avenue where they seized tattoo equipment from his room. Among the property taken was a tattoo gun with a foot pedal.

Pearson said he did not immediately now long the boy had been giving tattoos, of if there were any other victims.

Under the Pennsylvania Crime Code, it is against the law to tattoo “any person under the age of 18 years without the parent or guardian of such person giving consent for the tattooing of the person and being present at the time of the tattooing of the person.”