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Yours for £18,000: Mother charged with attempting to sell her eight-week-old son to buy a new car
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:33 PM on 10th November 2010
Stephanie Bigbee Fleming, 22, would have received £5,500 of the proceeds from the sale of her eight-week-old son
A Florida woman has been charged with attempting to sell her eight-week-old son to pay for a new car. The baby's grandmother brokered the deal and initially demanded $75,000 (£46,000) but agreed to drop the price to $30,000 (£18,000) when told the prospective buyer could not get a bank loan. The mother of the boy, Stephanie Bigbee Fleming, 22, of Bradenton, would have received $9,000 (£5,500) of the proceeds, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
A spokesman said: 'Fleming planned to purchase a new vehicle from the money received.' Arrest documents also revealed Fleming needed the money to pay court costs for an unrelated probation violation. Fleming was arrested yesterday and her mother - Patty Bigbee, 45 - was held last week with her boyfriend Lawrence Works, 42. All three have been charged with the illegal sale of a child, and Bigbee was also charged with communications fraud.
The Daytona Beach News Journal has reported that the buyer-turned-informant was in fact another daughter who Patty Bigbee had given up for adoption but had recently got back in touch with. When the daughter mentioned she wanted a baby, Bigbee offered her grandson for sale explaining she had been caring for her him but 'was not mother material'. Her daughter then notified authorities and worked with them during the ensuing 'negotiations'.
Fleming was arrested yesterday and her mother - Patty Bigbee (left), 45 - was held last week with her boyfriend Lawrence Works (right), 42
Bigbee and Works were arrested when they collected a $30,000 (£18,000) cheque and handed over the baby to an undercover agent in a Daytona Beach car park.
Detectives moved in once the baby was put safely in the back seat of the 'buyer's' car. 'This transaction today was absolutely "take this baby, give us our money and go",' said Florida Department of Law Enforcement Agent Wayne Ivey. 'Not only were they attempting to go this route with the transaction, but who else would've been willing to buy that child?' The baby boy is in the care of social services.
