Man claimed on Facebook he ran a circumcision service from his 'cabin in the woods'

A Newfoundland and Labrador man has been charged withpractising without a medical licenceafter a woman reported him to police, saying he asked her inappropriate questions about her son's penisand suggested he could perform circumcisions athis rural home.

It's a scary thought to think this is going on in a cabin in the woods.- Mother

Carbonear resident Josh Chubbs, 23, was charged on Feb. 20 under the Medical Act aftera mother whom CBC News has agreed not to identifycalled police to report that he hadwritten to her last December, after she made a routine post onFacebookthat mentioned her children.

The mother, who lives in the Conception Bay North area,said Chubbs wrote to her to inquire whether her son, who is under 10, was having any issues with his genitals, such asinfections that mightrequire a medical procedure like acircumcision or a frenulectomy, which involves the removal of tissuearound the head of the penis.

"To say the conversation took astrange turn is a bit of an understatement," she told CBC News.

A 'cabin in the woods'

Circumcision is often performed a few days after birthbefore discharge from hospital or at specialized outpatient clinics. However,because it's considered cosmetic, thesurgery cost of $300 to $500isn't covered by provincial insurance plans.

The motherdescribed Chubbs as an acquaintance and said she knew he had worked at Noel's Funeral Home in Carbonearin 2015. She said heexplained to her that he also had training inpediatric urology and could do surgical operations like circumcisions.

According to Facebook messages seenby CBC News, Chubbs asked if her sonhad been circumcised, how he cleaned his penis and several other questions that she felt wereinappropriate.

"He said, 'I don't want you to think I was a creep, I am trained,'" she said.

A mom in Conception Bay North recounts an odd conversation where a man allegedly offered to perform a circumcision on her son.

8 years ago

Duration 0:48

A woman alleges Joshua Chubbs of Carbonear offered to perform a circumcision on her 14-year-old son in his cabin.

After pressing Chubbsfurther, she said hewent on to explain how he never finished his urology training because he fellinto the funeral business.

Hetold herhe had training in pediatric urologyand had "dealt with lots of boys who have had issues."

"I did finish my course, got all my papers, it's not illegal, I am trained," he told her, and added: "I just don't work for the hospital, which is why I don't broadcast, but it's legal."

In the messages, he claimed he had performed circumcisions for his adult friends on the side andthat he had all his papers. He added he could do the procedure right inhis homewhich she describedas little more thana cabin in the woods near the town ofFreshwater.

"At this point I had Googled the length of time it takes to become a pediatric urologist, and he hasn't even been out of high school that long," she said."So I knew then that this was something that needed to be brought to a higher power's attention."

The woman noted that the messages she received from Chubbs were difficult to read because of numerous spelling errors.

'Absolutely horrified'

According to the woman, Chubbs claimed to have completedmore than 50 procedures already, and even referred her to a mutual adult friend who had afrenulectomyoperationsuccessfully done by him. The friend confirmed it, and went on to say Chubbs seemed professional and that there were no complications fromthe work.

The mom said hearing that Chubbs hadoperated on an adult was disturbing enough, but for him toapproach her about doing unlicensed surgery on her child was what finally drove her to contact the police.

"I was absolutely horrified," she said.

"It red-flagged a lot of stuff for me, because God forbid there would actually be somebody too embarrassed to take their child to a doctor who would take them to a friend who was clearly not certified to do these things."

Not a urologist, nora mortician

Too nervous to call the RCMP's Harbour Grace detachmentto explain what Chubbs had said, she asked a friend to do so. She said atfirst, policedidn't take her friend seriously and hung up, but when her friend called back a second time they finally listened and eventually charges were laid.

Not only was Chubbsallegedly offering to performmedical procedures without proper credentials, but he also had not finished his apprenticeship to be a mortician.

The RCMPare not commenting on their investigation.

The mother said she went to the media to make sure others don't consider getting their child treated by someone without proper medical credentials.

"It's important for people to know that without the proper credentials, things could go wrong," the woman said.

"It's a scary thought to think this is going on in a cabin in the woods."

Chubbsis scheduled to appear inHarbour Grace provincial court on April 12.

He's charged with engaging in medical practice while not licensedunder the Medical Actfrom June1 to Oct. 15, 2016. He is also being charged by promoting those services to people betweenDec. 1 and 16, 2016.