Kevin McGill reported for the story for the Associated Press. Here are the highlights.
“NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana woman is accused of trading two young children in her care for a pet cockatoo and $175 cash from a couple who had been trying for years to have their own child, authorities said Thursday…The transaction for the 5-year-old boy and the 4-year-old girl was negotiated by phone after [she] spotted a flier posted at a livestock barn selling a cockatoo for $1,500 and called the [couple] on Feb. 18…”
Though the woman was a caretaker, she obviously had no right to put the children up for adoption as she told the couple she could. She’s been charged with kidnapping.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people who claim that they wish to help others, who apply for helping positions, or who work for helping organizations, really were what they claimed to be? Maybe I’m becoming cynical but I’m becoming cautious about nearly everyone these days. Will they do what they claim? Are they what they appear to be?
Though I likely will be hanged from the nearest tree for saying this, I am strongly in favor of stringent and harsh punishment for those who hurt children — physically, sexually, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, etc. — and hope that the court throws the book at this “caretaker” woman. Yes, she may have problems of her own and someone should help her work through her own issues. In prison. Caged like a bird.