An utterly shameless and reckless act from a mother who clearly doesn’t realise that having children is a precious gift:
Here’s a quick parenting tip: it’s not OK to offer to sell your children on Facebook, even if you really need the money.
Misty VanHorn, a 22-year old mother of two in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, found that out the hard way over the weekend.
VanHorn was arrested on Saturday for the alleged trafficking of minors on Facebook – offering her 10-month old and her 2 year-old for $US4000 ($3890).
According to the police report, VanHorn offered her children several times on the social network – offering the 10-month old girl for $US1000 ($972), or both of them for $US4000. And she had a taker.
Police believe VanHorn wanted the $US1000 to bail her boyfriend out of jail.
VanHorn was dealing with a woman in Fort Smith, Arkansas, according to The Oklahoman. This means she could be charged with a federal crime because the act would have crossed state borders.
“Just come to Sallisaw, it’s only 30 minutes away and I’ll give you all of her stuff and let y’all have her forever for $1000,” read VanHorn’s Facebook message to the Fort Smith woman, as unearthed in the police report by the Daily Dot.
She is being held on a $US40,000 ($38,900) bond. The children are in the custody of the state’s department of human services, which alerted the police in the first place.
A word of caution for anyone rushing to Facebook to find the alleged perpetrator: there are multiple Misty VanHorns on the social network. Two of them live in Oklahoma. One looks similar to the mugshot released by the Sequoyah County Police Department, but does not appear to live in VanHorn’s town, Sallisaw.
Click on the link to read How Giving Your Children a Bath Can Get You on a Sex Offender Registry
Click on the link to read Parody of Oscar Nominated Movies Featuring a Cast of Adorable Kids
Click on the link to read Hilarious Parenting Checklist
Click on the link to read 7 Rules for Raising Kids: Economist
Click on the link to read Dad’s Letter to 13-Year Old Son after Discovering he had been Downloading from Porn Sites
Click on the link to read Mother Shaves Numbers Into Quadruplets Heads So People Can Tell Them Apart
Tags: Arkansas, Fort Smith, Misty VanHorn arrested, Misty VanHorn facebook, Misty VanHorn selling children, Misty VanHorn selling children on facebook, Misty VanHorn trafficking of minors on Facebook, News, Parenting, Parenting tips, sell your children on Facebook, Sequoyah County Police Department
Topical Teaching 
March 13, 2013 at 8:13 am |
Any woman (or man for that matter) who would sell her children doesn’t deserve to be called a mother (father in the case of a man). This is a horrible scenario. The children then become wards of the state which is even less qualified to raise children. What can we do? It may not be popular, but perhaps it’s time to look at licensing people to become parents. No licence, no kids. Unlicensed kids could be taken for adoption into a family that really wants them and can raise them in a sane, and loving environment. There are so many excellent potential parents who have to wait for a long time to adopt, often having to look overseas.
March 13, 2013 at 8:17 am |
One sad fact about children in state “care” is that they are often shunted from one dysfunctional foster home to another. Some people actually foster children as a source of income. On the other hand I have met some excellent foster parents who have successfully raised large numbers of children.