A Detroit, Michigan, mother who was jailed for refusing to vaccinate her young son also reportedly lost primary custody of the child.
According to the Detroit Free Press, court testimony revealed Wednesday that the boy’s father, James Horne, had his 9-year-old son vaccinated Monday. Oakland County Circuit Judge Karen McDonald also ordered that Horne and Rebecca Bredow, 40, share custody of their child.
READ More: Mom gets jail time for refusing to vaccinate son: ‘I couldn’t bring myself to do it’
“It was the worst five days of my life, except for the fact that I just found out that he was vaccinated and I’m not going to get him back today,” Bredow tearfully said of her jail sentence in court. “It’s been a rough few days to say the least.”
Bredow and Horne separated before the boy was born in 2008. Bredow had physical custody since his birth; Horne took his son on the weekends, according to the local paper.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Bredow and Horne had an agreement to space out their children’s vaccines. Bredow, concerned about doctors administering multiple shots at once, allegedly applied for a vaccine waiver without Horne’s consent.
Michigan allows for vaccine waivers for medical, religious, and personal reasons. However, Horne petitioned the court to get their son immunized, citing their original agreement.
In court, Bredow claimed she objected to her son getting vaccinated on religious grounds, the Detroit Free Press also reported.
The mother had a week to get her son the agreed-upon vaccines, which she refused to do. As a result, Judge McDonald found her in contempt of court and sentenced her to jail on October 4.
ORIGINAL Story: Judge to mom: ‘Get your son vaccinated or go to jail!’
“I understand you love your children, but what I don’t think you understand is your son has two parents, and dad gets a say,” the judge reportedly told her last week.
Judge McDonald gave Bredow 21 days to challenge the change in custody, which attorney Steven Vitale said they plan to do.
“She’s devastated,” Vitale told reporters.
Despite losing primary custody and being thrown in jail, Bredow told ABC News Friday that she would “do it all over again.”
“I was trying to protect my kids,” she said. “I was trying to stand up for what I believed in, and it was worth it for me to try and take the risk because I was trying to stop the vaccinations from happening.”
“Never in a million years did I ever think that I would end up in jail standing up to try to protect my kids, and standing up for my beliefs.”
[Featured Image: Oakland County Jail]