You can find pretty much anything on Craigslist. Want to buy a new car? No problem. Need a date to the prom? Just run an ad. Need a new job? Toaster oven? Modeling gig? Roommate? Craigslist has you covered.
So it wasn’t particularly surprising when an ad appeared on the local Tampa, Florida edition of Craigslist offering a “baby for sale.”
The Hillsboro Sheriff’s Office in Florida has confirmed that a criminal investigation was opened concerning the ad offering an infant for sale. Detectives discovered that the poster of the ad was a 19 year old Florida woman, but emphasized that no arrests have been made in conjunction with the Craigslist ad to date. The ad listing the baby for sale has, however, been removed from the Craigslist web site as of Monday June 1st.
Sheriff’s Office detectives have questioned the 19 year old female in relation to the ad. The woman, who is herself the single mother of a young child, informed the Sheriff’s Department that the whole thing was a joke, and emphatically denied that she was interested in selling her child.
Additionally, the Craigslist ad featured a photograph of a toddler-aged child, though the woman claimed it was not a photo of her child, but simply a random image sourced from the Internet.
The ad, which was astonishingly detailed, claimed to be posted by an 18 year-old single mother with an 18 month daughter named Annabelle. The ad claimed that the mother’s career was very important to her, and that she had “no time to spend with her,” referring to the young daughter.
The shocking ad raised eyebrows in conservative West Florida; and at least one Craigslist reader took the classified ad seriously enough to contact the local sheriff’s office. It is interesting to note that similar ads have appeared on Craigslist in the past, but they have not usually been as detailed and convincing, opting instead for a jokier “obvious hoax” tone. The most recent ad was noticeable because of its lack of hyperbole, and it actually seemed plausible to many readers.
The woman questioned, whose name has not been released by Sheriff’s Office officials, was not arrested or remanded into custody, and it appears now that the ad was entirely a goof. However, a sheriff spokesperson noted that child protective services will be investigating the woman anyway to ensure that her child is in a safe and healthy environment.
After all the negative attention — not to mention the visit from Child protective services –perhaps the mother will think twice before joking about such serious issues in the future.
