A Charlotte mother has been sentenced to seven days behind bars for secretly having her child baptized.
According to WSOC, this case has been going on for several years now, ever since Kendra Stocks and Paul Schaaf parted ways and began fighting for over custody of their daughter.
Court records show that Schaaf was ultimately granted final decision-making authority when it comes to the former couple's daughter, and that includes decisions surrounding religion.
Shortly after being warned that jail time would be considered should either party violate their custody agreement, Stocks went out and had the little girl baptized, without telling Schaaf.
Court records show that Schaaf had no idea the baptism was even taking place until he saw photos of the event on Facebook.
According to court documents, "the mother has acted selfishly by depriving father of the ability to be present at an event that was extraordinarily important to him."
Once the judge on the couple's case learned about the betrayal, Stocks was found in contempt of court and sentenced to seven days behind bars.
On Friday, Stocks will report to the local jail, where she is expected to remain for a full week.
Although reporters have attempted to talk to Judge Sean Smith about his ruling, he has refused to comment on the case, as it's still pending.
After this story began making headlines on Facebook, commenters were up in arms over the judge's decision.
Several readers agreed with the judge, pointing out that Stocks did violate her custody agreement.
"She went to jail for contempt of court. When you don't follow court orders, this is what happens. She didn't follow the court order, she was found guilty of contempt, she goes to jail," Tammy Hughes commented. "This has nothing to do with religion. It has to do with not following a court order. She could have broken any part of the court order, same result."
Debra Harpe added: "This poor kid, this is really sad. And for the record, she wasn't jailed for baptizing her child, she was jailed for contempt of court. But whatever, this poor child doesn't have a chance."
Others stood up for Stocks, insisting that she did what she thought was right in the moment.
Michael Pulliam wrote: "you have real criminals out there and you put someone in jail for baptizing their daughter...geesh..yeah she should have let the father be there but nothing to go to jail over..this people is why the movie idocracy is a documentary not a comedy movie."
"It's not THAT big of a deal. Means absolutely nothing if you do not practice the faith. 7 days for a forehead cleanse? Hmmm," GiGi Jarrett. "Doesn't mean the child will practice anything after a certain understanding & age. I believe it's up to the child or person when they can make the decision for themselves when it comes to religion. The father or mother can want his or her children Christian, Catholic ect til the cows come home. Ultimately it will be up to the individual. Jail time was ridiculous."
