Florida Woman Arrested After Trying to Sell Her Child for $500

(Daily360.com) A shocking story coming from Florida alleges that a woman tried to sell her child outside of a local store for $500. 33-year-old Jessica Woods, was arrested on March 5 after offering “to sell” her daughter and subsequently abandoning her. The charges include three counts of child abuse, attempting to surrender or sell a minor for money, child abandonment, and neglect.

Witnesses say Woods was loitering outside of the store for a period of time that day and had been seen in the area in the days prior. Eventually, one of the store employees asked Woods if she was in need of help or any other assistance. The employee said Woods offered to sell her daughter for $500. The employee refused, at which point Woods walked away from the store and left the child behind.

The store employee collected the girl and brought her to the nearby Palatka Police Department station. The employee told police about the alleged interaction with Woods, who was arrested two days later and is being held on $255,000 bail at Putnam County Jail. The minor child has been turned over to Florida’s Department of Children and Families.

It is unknown what Woods’ alleged motive was but the issue of children being sold in the US has never been more central. Child trafficking and the selling of children has been making headlines for the last few years after the United States border has been left wide open. Government and watchdog groups detail large-scale cartel operations operating within all 50 states that traffic and sell women and children. They are often sold as part of a sex ring or “slave labor” force.

A US Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) whistleblower gave Congressional testimony saying children are being sold in America to work in factories, slaughterhouses, restaurants, and other places to pay down the debts they owe to smugglers. Others are forced into prostitution rings by cartels, many of which take advantage of government programs that assist in transporting migrant children throughout the country.