--- title: Couple Tries to Sell Baby for $500 to $1000 description: A West Virginia couple has been arrested and charged for attempting to sell a baby. canonical: https://time.com/4359034/sell-baby-west-virginia-couple/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-06T21:12:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:25:26.873Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Couple Arrested for Trying to Sell Baby for $500 to $1,000 og:description: No one agreed to buy the infant og:url: https://time.com/4359034/sell-baby-west-virginia-couple/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Couple Arrested for Trying to Sell Baby for $500 to $1,000 twitter:description: No one agreed to buy the infant twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Couple Arrested for Trying to Sell Baby for $500 to $1,000 by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 6, 2016 9:12 PM CUT by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jun 6, 2016 9:12 PM CUT A West Virginia couple has been arrested and charged for attempting to [sell a baby](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/06/06/a-couple-is-in-jail-for-trying-to-sell-their-baby-for-500-to-1000/ "undefined"). In late May, EMS responded to a call about a sick infant in Layland, W.V. When they arrived, they learned that the caller was not the legal guardian of the child. In fact, the infant had been left there by a couple who had tried to sell the 3-month-old for between $500 and $1,000\. They abandoned the child when they were not successful, [according to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=1353283581354455&id=186902037992621 "undefined"). Witnesses identified the man as Jonathan Isaac Lucas Flint, 20, and the woman was eventually determined to be the child’s mother, Ashley Nichole Harmon, 25\. Both have been charged with two felonies: Selling or Attempting to Sell A Child and Gross Child Neglect Creating A Risk of Bodily Injury or Death to A Child. The child was taken into custody by Child Protective Services and placed in a foster home. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4359034/sell-baby-west-virginia-couple/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4359034/sell-baby-west-virginia-couple/"},"headline":"Couple Arrested for Trying to Sell Baby for $500 to $1,000","datePublished":"2016-06-06T21:12:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:25:26.873Z","description":"No one agreed to buy the infant","url":"https://time.com/4359034/sell-baby-west-virginia-couple/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4359034/sell-baby-west-virginia-couple/","name":"Couple Arrested for Trying to Sell Baby for $500 to $1,000"}}]}] ```