Delaware Mother Denies Trying to Sell Her Baby for $15,000
- Posted on October 5, 2011 at 10:45pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
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NEW CASTLE, Del. (The Blaze/AP) — A Delaware woman charged with trying to sell her baby to a Philadelphia man for $15,000 denied the allegations Wednesday and said she loves her newborn son and wants to be with him.
Bridget Wismer told The Associated Press that the accusations against her and co-defendant John Gavaghan are the result of a big misunderstanding by authorities.
Police have charged Wismer and Gavaghan with dealing in children and conspiracy. They were arrested Friday after detectives said they confirmed the two were involved in the sale and purchase of the newborn, and the baby was placed in foster care.
Police found the baby at Gavaghan’s house when they arrested him. Gavaghan also thanked her for giving him a baby in a note at her baby shower.
On Wednesday, authorities served Wismer with a notice that they are asking for an emergency hearing to increase her bail. Wismer is currently free on bond. In the motion asking a judge to increase her bail, deputy attorney general Phyllis Scully alleged that Wismer posted her intention to sell her child on Facebook and intended to use the money for a trip to Disney World.
Wismer, 33, said Gavaghan, 54, is a friend who offered to help when she found herself pregnant, in a difficult home situation, and unwilling to get an abortion. She also says she didn’t want to give her baby up for adoption because she would never see him again.
“I was just waiting for a miracle,” she said, adding that she gratefully accepted Gavaghan’s offer to help. “I was so positive about what I was doing.”
Wismer said the charges stem from confusion on the part of her grandmother, who had alerted authorities that her granddaughter wanted to sell her baby to a homosexual couple. A statement of probable cause said that a tipster advised authorities that Wismer was trying to sell the child because she did not want it and sought money for a trip to Disney World.
Wismer said that while Gavaghan has given her money to help pay bills and take care of her baby and her two other sons, there was never any agreement to sell her baby. Instead, she agreed to let Gavaghan and his longtime partner, who has previously considered adopting a child, help her take care of the baby. Their friends and family members even celebrated with a baby shower about two weeks before the boy was born.
“Bridget, thanks with all our hearts for giving me and Antonio a baby,” Gavaghan wrote in a Hallmark card he and his partner gave Wismer at the baby shower.
“We love you, respect you and thank you with all our hearts,” Gavaghan added. “You made our life full.”
Wismer said a Division of Family Services worker had told her before the baby was born that DFS would close an investigation undertaken in response to the grandmother’s report, as long as social services officials in Philadelphia cleared Gavaghan. Delaware authorities who interviewed several people said they indicated the tipster was confused about the circumstances, according to the statement of probable cause.
Gavaghan was not immediately available for comment Wednesday. He spoke with Wismer by phone while she was being interviewed by the AP, but Wismer said Gavaghan did not want to talk to the media until he spoke to an attorney.
No one answered the door at a Philadelphia apartment that several neighbors identified as his.
However, he told police he arranged to take the baby and put himself down on the birth certificate as the child’s biological father, even though that was not the case, according to the statement of probable cause.
Wismer said Gavaghan was at the hospital for the boy’s birth. Authorities allege that Gavaghan agreed to pay Wismer an additional $2,000 to have his name on the birth certificate, an accusation she denied.
Wismer said Gavaghan offered a couple of weeks ago to send her and her children to Walt Disney World as a Christmas present, but that he did not want her to tell the children because he wanted it to be a surprise.
“He is the most generous person in the world,” Wismer said. Referring to the motion to increase her bail, Wismer said she doesn’t have a Facebook account.
Wismer said the charges against her and Gavaghan have left them both distraught and crying.
She spoke as she sat in the living room of her mother’s home, where a playpen and baby swing were tucked away in the corners, and cans of Similac powdered baby formula were stacked on the kitchen counter.
Wismer also denied claims by authorities that the boy was born addicted to opiates. She said her son was born healthy but had a reaction that she believes was related to a pain reliever she had taken during her pregnancy, as well as her smoking and drinking caffeine while pregnant.
Wismer said she was aware that Gavaghan, who authorities allege has sold prescription drugs and been a bookmaker, had a criminal history that includes pleading guilty to theft and bad check charges.
“I don‘t think he’s a bad guy,” she said.
Local CBS news provides the report:
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thegreatcarnac
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 2:26pmNo…she did not say she wanted to sell her baby for 15,000 dollars. It was 20 thousand.
Report Post »teamarcheson
Posted on October 7, 2011 at 12:36amA welfare mother would pay more than $15,000 for that kid. With all the welfare checks that kid would get could pay for the $15K investment in a few years. Was the kid’s mother going to accept a credit card for payment?
Report Post »SanMoo
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 9:19amThis is not about the Disney trip—this is about a desparate woman with children….which she probably can not afford anything for them. Wrong decision–yes! This man was taking advantage of a distraught woman and her situation. I am sure the whole story would paint quite a picture. This darn economy is causing all kinds of strange things to happen. I live in a nice town in Ohio…..We now have allerts of more robberies than you can imagine…..and some breakins are people entering into someone’s home and cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer and taking the food. Nothing else was stolen. This should not happen here in America…..Very sad–What is happening to our country? ……:(
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 9:08amHmmm…
At least she didn’t chloroform it, lock it in the trunk of her car, and go out partying!
At least she didn’t murder it before it had a chance to be born.
Let’s not attack his looks. Not everyone is as good lookin’ as me! LOL
How come it is okay for women to be paid to be surrogate mothers, but not to sell the child after it is born? (Adoption for money)
I’m not agreeing with what she did, but, I am asking the questions that need to be asked.
Report Post »“Question BOLDLY…”
Uranium Wedge
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 11:36pmOh yah, selling your baby to a pedophile is much better.
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 3:41amThis woman is a moron. You don’t sell your most recently birthed child so that you can take your other children to Disney World, AND you don’t sell your child to two homosexuals, – one with a criminal record.
I wonder where is the Daddy of this child. Does she even know who are the Daddies of any of her children?
Report Post »rangerp
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 6:47amHmmmm, homosexuals at the center of another crime. It will only get worse.
Report Post »teamarcheson
Posted on October 7, 2011 at 12:43amSlavery should be legalized like so many other things are.
Why can’t a person sell themselves, their kids or a relative into slavery if they choose? Blacks could pay off their debts, have a lifetime job, and get taken care of for the rest of their lives. It would solve the problem of “homeless” people. Many of us could use and afford extra help around the home. A “life servant” would be wonderful for the bed ridden elderly at home and in hospitals. Life Servitude would be a pleasant, enjoyable, and rewarding life career.
Report Post »angry nerd
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 1:55amAmazing, at least they realize that child would have a better chance with someone else.
Report Post »Like maybe a pack of woodland creatures. Anyhow I have a strange feeling they are going
to feel dumb when they find out what a good anchor baby goes for these days.
Just trying to make light of a horrible situation.
Cosmos102
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 12:46amI’m so sorry for that little baby.
Report Post »thekuligs
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 12:34amSome people should not be parents. I don‘t believe in debt and we live off of Military pay so it’s taken me years to save to go to Dinsey; we’re supposed to go this summer but man the world could be a huge mess by then. I want to know if this woman was on public assistance. (I’m going to go out on a limb and say yes) I don’t know how this woman could call herself a mother.
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 2:26pmI remember saving from military pay to go to Disneyland, after a short trip to Big Sur, our first ever vacation-not change of orders traveling. You brought back a precious memory. I hope this mess gets sorted out, sounds like a few busybodies to me. Stress, motherhood and poverty can bring about stupid decisions, hope she gets help, in more ways than one. I’m adopted, I have always blessed the woman who gave me birth and didn’t flush me. She already get’s stars for that.
Report Post »sandy21957
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 12:33amBabies being killed by mothers or sold or abandoned. What a mess things are becoming.
Report Post »netmail
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 12:20amMany, many years ago, some parents of newborns saved for 5 years or more to give their child an unforgettable trip to Disneyland. I think a lot of parents in the 50‘s and 60’s at least wanted to. Now, some dysfunctional parents are trying to sell their kids so THEY can go instead? That’s jacked up. Send these degenerates to Disney-Jail instead on ‘the longest ride’ of their miserable lives.
Report Post »TSUNAMI-22
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 12:02amIs it just me, or does the guy in the mugshot look like “Hanover Fist” of Heavy Metal fame?
Report Post »http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8jm6IDC1LM&feature=related
Harold B
Posted on October 5, 2011 at 11:30pmWow this is a wonderful victory for the public school system and it’s moral free education . Be Happy Folks this is where our tax dollars are at work, No wonder article 10 of the US Constitution did not allow the Federal Government into the nations school system.but it is there any way.
Report Post »whatthecrazy
Posted on October 5, 2011 at 11:02pmThe man looks beastly and doesnt need to be left alone with this baby. thank God it is safe for now………Just my opinion………………..
Report Post »motherof18
Posted on October 5, 2011 at 11:12pmthe mother should have her genitals burned off her body.
Report Post »Sirfoldallot
Posted on October 5, 2011 at 11:01pmSad ppl r like this. What side of the fence r u on , GOOD OR EVIL ?
Report Post »scuba13
Posted on October 5, 2011 at 10:56pmHey look it’s Encinom and Monicne back in the news again.
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on October 5, 2011 at 11:58pmNow that’s funny.
Report Post »Californiasodbuster
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 3:05amI have to pay for a dog license, but any misfit can breed an innocent human baby, are you out there woodsfamily teacher?
Report Post »Please enlighten me.
The10thAmendment
Posted on October 6, 2011 at 7:04amNot true. This is our well beloved tifosa. Tinkerbell is surely loose on the reservation.
Report Post »