A Tennessee couple was arrested and charged with trying to sell their 5-month-old son for $3,000 on Craigslist to an undercover agent, officials say.
Greeneville, Tennessee, residents John David Cain, 26, and Deanna Lynn Greer, 37, were arrested in a Dollar General parking lot on March 24 after allegedly arranging to make the sale over the Internet trading service.
Greene County Sheriff’s Chief Detective Jeff Morgan told the media that the couple was flagged when another Craigslist user alerted authorities after seeing the ad the suspects posted.
“They had spoken with the parents of this child and it was posted on Craigslist, but not as a child for sale. It was an adoption-type ad,” People magazine reported.
Morgan added that once the tipster realized what was going on, “they alerted the authorities in their community — who contacted the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and then me, and then the FBI got involved.”
From there, a team was put together to launch a sting to put a stop to the alleged sale of the baby.
About Deanna Greer, Greene County Chief Deputy Ray Allen added, “She went into the store and purchased some cigarettes and came back out and kind of hung out in the parking lot for a few minutes before we took them down.”
Cain and Greer were both charged with aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect or endangerment by state prosecutors, but there may also be federal charges.
The pair are being held in the Greene County Jail with Cain on a no bond hold and Greer on a $150,000 bond. They are scheduled to appear in court in April.
Cain was also charged with embezzlement for allegedly misusing a credit card belonging to a Wilmington construction company.
After his arrest for the alleged sale of the baby, authorities discovered that Cain was being sought in connection with a break-in at a car lot in Wilmington that occurred last August, the Greenville Sun reported.
The baby is now in state custody.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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