A Texas mother has been charged with trying to sell her newborn over social media.
Court documents say the Houston Police Department began an investigation on September 23 after receiving a report that 21-year-old Juniper Bryson tried to sell her baby on Facebook, KPRC reported.
The report said that Bryson had asked a family member if she knew any families looking to adopt two days earlier. She reportedly told the relative that the baby would test positive for drugs and that she was unable to keep him.
Then she posted on a Facebook group that supposedly connected expectant mothers with potential adopters, saying she was in Houston but could travel if arrangements could be made.
Bryson gave birth on September 24 with someone supposedly interested in adopting present at the hospital during the labor. According to police, Bryson was waiting for “the highest bidder” before finalizing any adoption arrangement.
Court documents say that Bryson was seeking to be paid for the baby in messages with potential adoptive parents.
According to KTRK, a couple from Louisiana told investigators they were 3 1/2 hours into their trip to Houston, after sending Bryson money for food for the baby, when she asked for another $150. She blocked them when they balked, then unblocked them to say “If the baby wasn’t worth $200 to them, then screw all.”
Wendy Williams said she was the one at the hospital when the baby was born. Bryson had not asked her for money, she said, and they signed legal documents signing the baby over to Williams and her husband.
Meanwhile, Bryson posted to Facebook that she’d found a home for the baby, tagging Williams, who started getting “ugly” comments.
“‘How dare you sell this baby?’” they wrote to Bryson, Williams said. “And then they were tagging me, ‘How dare you buy this baby?’”
When she asked Bryson about it — still at the hospital — Williams said Bryson had the nurse throw her out of the room. Williams said she contacted Child Protective Services, which brought the police in.
Before Bryson was taken away in handcuffs, Williams said, she revoked the custody of the child she’d signed over.
Bryson is being held on a $30,000 bond in the Harris County Jail, KTRK said.
