PINELLAS COUNTY, FL (BAY NEWS 9/CNN ) – Authorities in Florida have accused a mother of trying to sell her 5-year-old son for a small sum of money.
Jessica Mickles, 29, faced a judge wearing jail stripes.
Her next door neighbors said they knew it was only a matter of time, but even this charge was surprising.
“We knew there was something going on, but I never thought someone would stoop that low to sell their child,” neighbor Timothy Pillion said.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said Mickles tried to barter her son to a couple she met at church for $2,000.
But instead of taking the offer, James Gardner told detectives about the deal.
Within hours a sting was set up, and deputies arrested Mickles when they said she showed up in Seminole to sell her son.
Skylar Wilson, a neighbor, said the boy was always knocking on her door.
“‘I want to come over to your house. I don’t want to go to my mom’s,'” she said he said.
It may have been because of living conditions inside his home next door.
“There’s a time when they didn’t have any toilet paper. She’d come over and ask for toilet paper because he used his socks and clothes as toilet paper,” Wilson said.
Officials said the boy is unharmed and safe in child protective custody while his mother sits in jail with a $10,000 bond for trying to sell him.
Officials said the child doesn’t have any relatives in the state. They will try to figure out who should get custody of the boy.
This is a sad situation, trying to sell your child. There are some people who bring chldren into the world and who are not responsible enough to nurture them and feed them. Some of them did not plan to have children but it so happened that they conceived a child. Where is the man who conceived her? He must have bailed out on her. A one-night stand may do it.
It is so sad that children suffer from maltreatment at the hands of parents. It is a terrible life to live for a child who is vulnerable and who needs proper care. Children must be appropriately nurtured and loved. This is their time as children to experience the joy of having parents and living. Their day as adults will come soon enough when they will have to bear the responsibility as adults and eventually parents. The manner in which they are treated will have an indelible mark on them and probably for life.
The mother is obviously to be blamed but a closer look at her must be conducted. She needs moral and spiritual help. To try to sell your child it means that you are in dire need of money and have a major problem.
She may have been receiving financial benefit from the government. What has she done with that money?
I would not lambaste her but feel sorry for her and hope that she receives the required help to also be a responsible adult.
I hope that the child will eventually be placed in a home and will be nurtured appropriately.
God loves the little children of the world. God bless that child and all the children of the world. May they all have responsible parents and receive likewise nurturing.
I learnt in Principles of Business 5 yrs ago, barter is the exchange of goods without the use of money…. Therefore, I can conclude, the word “barter” was used out of context.
That’s all you got from the story? Too bad you didn’t take an English class on picking out the main idea is a piece of writing. smfh
anything for a dollar