My tattoo artist touched me inappropriately and now I hate my tattoo

UPDATE 2: I’ve found a great artist in my area who will rework the tattoo into something I can love! ❤️

UPDATE: First of all - THANK YOU ALL for all of the support and sweet words. I’ve realized that this is a bigger deal than I first thought and that, unfortunately, it happens a lot. I’ll be messaging him telling him just how I feel and cut ties. I’m also considering going to the police, but need to gather myself a bit and collect some courage before doing so. I’m also considering just blasting him online but am hesitant to this as I don’t want this attention on me. But if it could help someone else, it would be worth it, right?

Okay, not sure how to even start. Apologies for any bad grammar - not a native English speaker. I (31F) have a friend (37M) who owns his own tattoo studio. He had this design for a full back piece that he really wanted to do and offered it to me for free. I already have a tattoo on my lower back that I’ve been meaning to cover up, and I liked his design so I accepted.

The first session was… weird, but not enough to make me run for the hills. He was tattooing my right buttcheek and kept pulling and tugging on my panties before asking me to take them off as they were in his way. I did and covered myself as best I could with and extra sweater so my vajayjay wouldn’t be out and about. I was laying on my stomach and to stretch the skin and get the right angle he would ask me to bring my leg up towards my stomach. I adjusted the sweater to cover me appropriately and he continued with the tattoo. A couple of times he would ”accidentally” touch my privates as he was wiping the tattoo down. I’ve know him since 2016 and never got any weird vibes from him so I brushed it off as a mistake. My people pleasing ass was too uncomfortable to speak up anyways.

Session 2 was way worse. He started working on my left buttcheek and again asked me to take my thong off. In hindsight I realize it wouldn’t have been in his way at all if he’d just pulled it up slightly, but at the time I believed him when he said they had to come off. Multiple times during this session he would caress me between my legs as he was ”wiping the tattoo” or just spreading my buttcheeks apart for unclear reasons and touching my privates in the process. At one point he straight up rubbed my clit. There’s no way this was accidental. I just froze. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t speak up, I didn’t walk away. I just froze. I’m so angry at myself for letting that happen. I wish I had said something. When the session was done I looked quickly in the mirror before getting dressed and running out the door. I haven’t spoke to him since.

I hate the tattoo now. I hate how it looks, I hate how it makes me feel. I hate absolutely everything about it and I don’t know what to do. He messaged me a couple of weeks ago asking when we’re gonna continue the design but I haven’t even opened the message up. What do I tell him? I don’t want to continue. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want him to touch me. I don’t trust him anymore. What would you do?

Also, the tattoo is quite dark and bold and I’m scared it’s gonna be tricky to cover up. Is laser the way to go? I saw Pony Lawson say you could go over a tattoo with white ink to slightly lighten it before doing a coverup? Anyone tried this?

I just want this off my body as soon as I possible can. I know laser takes so much time so would love a quicker option… I used to love my butt but now I feel ashamed and embarrassed every time I walk around the house in panties and tries to hide my butt from my boyfriend. I hate how it makes me feel - help! What would you do?