Baby barter

What follows is a list of parents arrested and charged with what may politely be called "illegal adoption." In more common parlance, they were caught attempting to extract some quick money in exchange for their infants. The list, in descending order of price, was unfortunately much too easy to compile:

• Patty Bigbee, 45, and her boyfriend, Lawrence Works, 42, were arrested in the parking lot of a Best Buy in Daytona Beach, Florida, for trying to sell Bigbee's 9-week-old grandson for $75,000 (but agreeing to take $30,000 after some haggling), so that she could buy her daughter, 22-year-old Stephanie Bigbee Fleming, a new car and pocket the rest.
• Bridget Wismer, 33, of New Castle, Delaware, was caught on a casino surveillance camera selling her 1-month-old son to John Gavaghan, 54, of Philadelphia, for $15,000 in Oct. 2011, reportedly because she wanted to go on a trip to Disney World.
• Anna Riggs, 26, of Kokomo, Indiana, sold her 4-month-old baby for $13,000 cash, controlled substances, and a 1996 Lincoln Mark VIII valued at about $3,500 in Oct. 2009 and was arrested in San Diego in Oct. 2011.
• Kenia Quiala Bosque, 30, of Miami, was arrested this month and charged with trying to sell her 8-month-old son for $7,000.
• Joana Delacruz Huerta, 29, of Abilene, Texas, was charged in Nov. 2011 with selling her 7-week-old baby for $2,000, and had already acccepted payments on an installment plan from Marilu Munoz, 27, who was also arrested.
• Heidi Gasaway a.k.a. Heidi Lynn Knowles (pictured hiding her face in court), 36, of Vancouver, Washington, offered her 3-day-old baby to a woman at a Taco Bell in July 2011 for an asking price of $500-$5,000 so that she could "skip town."
• Patrick Fousek, 39, of Salinas, California, was sentenced to 6 years in prison (and his partner Samantha Tomasini received 4 years of probation) in June 2010 after witnesses reported them offering their 8-month-old daughter for $25.

The prosecutor in the recent Bosque case, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, attributed the crime to the mother's financial problems, stating, "It's really a sign of the tragic times because the economy is so bad for so many people, that it's just unimaginable, almost unspeakable that a mother would think to sell their child." The parents were hard up for cash, but apparently not to buy food, but rather meth, a car (new in one case, used in another), and a trip to an amusement park. Charming.