A LaGrange woman faced a bond hearing today after being charged with female genital mutilation when lawmen found evidence of circumcision of her infant girl.

Troup County sheriff’s officials said the 35-year-old woman was charged with the act along with third-degree cruelty to children following the alleged surgical removal of the infant’s clitoris.

“We don’t see it too often,” said sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Chad Mann.

LaGrange police said the girl was born in April, and the incident may have occurred Sept. 1.

The father of the child had been granted temporary custody, and a relative noticed that the girl appeared to be circumcised. The 10-month-old was taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, where it was determined that she had been circumcised through some form of surgery.

The incident was reported to police Feb. 11. The Department of Family and Children Services was notified and contacted sheriff’s investigators Feb. 24, Mann said.

The mother was arrested Wednesday evening based on investigator’s findings.

The investigation is ongoing and further information would not be released, Mann said.

The child, who Mann said was in good condition, was in the care of her father, and the mother was in jail awaiting today’s bond hearing.

LaGrange Daily News is not naming the accused woman to protect the identity of the child.

Georgia may have had the first U.S. prosecution and conviction of female genital mutilation when an Atlanta man from Ethiopia was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2006 on charges of circumcising his daughter with a pair of scissors.

State lawmakers passed the anti-mutilation law in 2005.

In 1991, the World Health Organization recommended that the United Nations adopt the term “female genital mutilation” to replace “female circumcision,” to separate the act from the act of male circumcision.

The practice, which is common in areas of Africa, Asia and the Middle East as well communities in North America and Europe, is known to cause many short- and long-term medical consequences and has been denounced by many international health and human rights groups. Female genital mutilation can be cultural, religious and social in nature.

Trey Wood can be reached at twood @ lagrangenews. com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 228.