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Parents charged in baby sale
The parents of a 2-month-old baby were arrested Friday afternoon after trying to sell their infant for $30, law enforcement officials said.
According to Escambia County Sheriff’s investigators, Robert G. Ellingson, 23, of Pensacola approached two Teen Challenge of Pensacola volunteers about 3 p.m. in the parking lot of PetSmart on North Davis Highway and offered them beer.
When they refused the beer, Ellingson offered to sell his child.
“At first they thought it was a joke,” Sheriff’s spokesman Glenn Austin said of the volunteers. “But then the mother yelled to the group that they were trying to sell the baby. And one of them called us.”
Maghen Duvala, 25, of Pensacola, the baby’s mother, was arrested and charged with four counts of child neglect. Ellingson also was charged four counts of child neglect.
About an hour earlier, the couple were seen in the parking lot of Whitney National Bank at 6200 N. Davis Highway, a few blocks from PetSmart, trying to sell their baby.
The bank’s manager declined to comment about the incident and instructed his employees not to talk with reporters. The Pensacola Police Department is investigating the incident and charged both Duvala and Ellingson with one count of child neglect.
“This is the first time that I’ve ever heard of anything like this happening in this area,” Austin said. “We’re not sure why they wanted the $30, but the whole thing makes me sick to my stomach to think that someone would sell their child.”
Austin said he did not know the child’s gender.
Attempts were made Friday to contact Teen Challenge of Pensacola, but an unidentified woman who answered the phone said no one was available to comment.
The child is now in the custody of the Florida Department of Children & Families.
Duvala is being held in the Escambia County Jail on $15,000 bond, and Ellingson is being held on $27,000 bond. They both are scheduled to appear in court today.
The parents of a 2-month-old baby were arrested Friday afternoon after trying to sell their infant for $30, law enforcement officials said.
According to Escambia County Sheriff’s investigators, Robert G. Ellingson, 23, of Pensacola approached two Teen Challenge of Pensacola volunteers about 3 p.m. in the parking lot of PetSmart on North Davis Highway and offered them beer.
When they refused the beer, Ellingson offered to sell his child.
“At first they thought it was a joke,” Sheriff’s spokesman Glenn Austin said of the volunteers. “But then the mother yelled to the group that they were trying to sell the baby. And one of them called us.”
Maghen Duvala, 25, of Pensacola, the baby’s mother, was arrested and charged with four counts of child neglect. Ellingson also was charged four counts of child neglect.
About an hour earlier, the couple were seen in the parking lot of Whitney National Bank at 6200 N. Davis Highway, a few blocks from PetSmart, trying to sell their baby.
The bank’s manager declined to comment about the incident and instructed his employees not to talk with reporters. The Pensacola Police Department is investigating the incident and charged both Duvala and Ellingson with one count of child neglect.
“This is the first time that I’ve ever heard of anything like this happening in this area,” Austin said. “We’re not sure why they wanted the $30, but the whole thing makes me sick to my stomach to think that someone would sell their child.”
Austin said he did not know the child’s gender.
Attempts were made Friday to contact Teen Challenge of Pensacola, but an unidentified woman who answered the phone said no one was available to comment.
The child is now in the custody of the Florida Department of Children & Families.
Duvala is being held in the Escambia County Jail on $15,000 bond, and Ellingson is being held on $27,000 bond. They both are scheduled to appear in court today.
