'Kid for Sale' on eBay: Woman Puts Girl, 2, up for Auction
There are two types of people in this world:
The kind that wish they could get rid of sell a kid on eBay and those who would immediately freak out if they ever saw an ad touting a kid for sale.
This story involves both of types of people--a 20-year-old Michigan woman who offered her cousin up on eBay, and a buyer who just wanted the ad to be taken down.
Searching for children's clothing, WWMT-TV reports that Tracy Cromwell came across a post featuring a picture of a 2-year-girl that advertised a "Kid for sale, an adorable child for sale."
"Can clean and hold a decent conversation. Very lovable, but I just grew out of her," continued the post.
Instead of immediately calling the police, the station reports that Cromwell clicked the "Buy It Now" option, offering to pay $1,000 for the little girl.
After she was contacted by the toddler's cousin, she alerted law enforcement.
At this point, no one is really sure if the woman was actually trying to sell a kid on eBay, or if the whole thing is a joke that went too far.
She claims that she was trying to test out eBay's reserve function, thinking it would be funny to post a kid for sale, reports Today.
Police agree that woman probably didn't actually intend to sell her cousin, but believe that she may have put up the ad as a way to scam money.
Joke or not, it's not advisble to try and sell a kid on eBay. Advertising a kid for sale can get you picked up for child abuse and endangerment, sexual exploitation, trafficking, and even larceny by trick/false pretenses.
Related Resources:
- Child Appears On eBay Auction Site (Huffington Post)
- False Pretenses (FindLaw)
- Non La-Z-Boy DWI Chair Auctioned after eBay Fiasco (FindLaw's Legally Weird)