Kijiji is the Ebay-owned competitor to Craigslist. Image: Flickr / hyku / CC-BY
It was a listing that surprised even the parents. A Nova Scotia baby was offered for sale online. Online listing site Kijiji has removed the listing, and police say they’re “satisfied” that the parents were not involved.
Nova Scotia baby for sale online
Nova Scotia, Canada, police were called when someone found a listing for a baby on Kijiji. The 2-month-old baby listing included contact information for the parents, a picture of the baby and even their address. Police investigated, and believe that the ad posting was a hoax. The baby’s mother released a statement saying “I just feel disgusted that somebody would actually do that. It’s kind of sick when you think about it.” The listing has also been removed from Kijiji.
Craigslist baby sale listings
This is the first time online classifieds site Kijiji has hit the news for a hoax baby listing. Craigslist “baby sale” listings pop up about once every year or so and usually end up being hoaxes. In Vancouver in 2008, a listing offered a 7-day-old baby girl for $10,000. In 2009 in Tampa, a 19-year old turned herself in for posting a fake ad on the website. In July of 2010, the Pasco area Craigslist also got a fake baby-for-sale listing. Most often, these listings are simply hoaxes or fakes. When police are informed of these leads, they usually investigate. Every once in a while, police send child protective services to check on children in the homes identified in the listings.
The legal problems with fake listings
Not only do police investigate these fake “baby offered for sale online” listings and send in protective services, they consider criminal charges. There is technically nothing illegal about posting a hoax listing on Craigslist or other classifieds websites. A few hoax posters have been charged with public mischief, and the websites have always pulled the listings down within hours, if not minutes. That means a listing could cost someone a few hundred dollars in a fine, if they are prosecuted.
Sources
E Canada Now
Bay News 9
Click Orlando
Tampa Bay Online
National Post
Hoax my butt , these type of actions bring out the most discusting people on the planet, but wait , perhaps the police should stage such actions and when the creep shows up and arkansas pig sticker thru the throat up into the brain and into a open pit. Problem solved