Teen father with ‘DEVAST8’ tattooed on face turns down job offers after plea for work goes viral

Mark Cropp, 19, has since been overwhelmed with job offers, telling Daily Mail Australia that he ‘stopped counting’ after 45 or so.

He has yet to accept one of the job offers, however, saying he’s waiting for the ‘right one to come about.’

He added that a lot of the offers required him to have a car, but since he’s only been out of prison two weeks he is yet to buy one.

‘Until I get my first paycheck and get a car I won't be able to get myself around.’

Crops was imprisoned for two years after being convicted with armed robbery. He shared a cell with his brother who did the tattoo during a home-brew drinking session in their Christchurch prison.

He says he doesn’t want it removed because of sentimental reasons to do with his brother. It’s also his nickname.

‘There was a long time there where I would devastate everything I touched,’ he wrote in his Facebook post. ‘But I have learnt from my mistake.’

His girlfriend was reportedly ‘devastated’ to see his tattooed transformation, but Cropp says she has come around. 

‘A week before I got out I taped a picture of my face to the inside of an envelope so my partner could see it - she was devastated - but now she likes it and can't see me without it.’

He claims to social media to help fight the stigma around tattoos: ‘I still don't think people should be judged by the tattoos on their face - but I know it will keep happening unless I do something about it.’