Police are investigating after a Saanich, B.C., resident found an online ad yesterday offering a week-old baby girl for sale, the second such incident in the province in the past week.
Staff Sergeant Gary Schenk said the Saanich Police Department received a call yesterday morning from a woman who was looking to post used baby items for sale on the popular buy-and-sell website Craigslist when she said she noticed the local ad.
"Only $10,000! Seriously - no joke," the ad read. "A real human baby with ten fingers and 10 toes, not at all retarded. Get them while supplies last."
Staff Sgt. Schenk said the ad went on to say that while the offer may seem "far-fetched," it was very much real.
"The matter is under investigation, as we try to establish the origins of the listing."
Police have been in contact with Internet service providers and Craigslist officials, but have not been able to locate the individual or individuals who posted it. The ad was taken down a few hours after the woman noticed it.
The details of the ad are eerily similar to another incident in the Lower Mainland last week. On May 23, Vancouver police were informed by a Maple Ridge, B.C., grandmother about a week-old baby selling for $10,000 on the website. Two people, found with a newborn baby in their apartment, were arrested, but insisted the ad was a hoax. They were later released.
"It would be very disturbing if it was [a copy-cat incident]," Staff Sgt. Schenk said. "But the similarities are too close to be ignored. ... There's also the remote possibility that this could be legit, and we are taking this very seriously."
He said if the posting is discovered to be a hoax, investigators will pursue public-mischief charges.
A couple from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada has been arrested on charges of public mischief after listing their seven day old baby girl on the popular Internet classified ads website Craigslist.

The listing claimed that the baby was unexpected, "healthy and very cute". It asked CAN 10 000 for the baby. It also listed a phone number belonging to a stolen cellphone, which was used to find the couple.

It was first noticed by a 62-year old grandmother browsing the website for furniture, who said "I was shaking, and I thought, 'Come on, how did this even get through?'" The couple claimed that the listing, which has since been removed, was a hoax.

The father, Jeremy Pete, had a history of car thefts and evasion of police, while the mother, 23-year-old Bethany Granholm, had convictions of property theft, fraud and impersonation. The parents have now been released, but charges are still being considered. The baby has been placed in provincial care.

A suspected copycat incident occurred just four days later, also offering a seven-day-old baby girl for CAN 10 000 on Craigslist. This incident turned out to be a hoax, and no child was in danger.

Last week saw a similar incident in Germany, where a couple listed a seven month old baby on eBay. In this case the police have launched a child trafficking investigation, despite the parents' assertion that the listing was a joke.