A Geelong mother has found herself in a trouble after posting her two children for sale on eBay.
The advert appeared on eBay last week, complete with photos of the children - who are both under 10 - and an extensive advertorial as to why they would be a good buy. Which was clearly effective as the kids attracted several bids, according to a report in the Geelong Advertiser. But happily no sale took place, as the police were informed and the ad taken down.
Luckily for the mother, the police accepted her claims that that the attempt to offload her kids onto eBayers was "a joke" and they won't be pressing charges. But they did provide some handy best practice guidance about putting your kids up for auction, stating "the police discourage this kind of behaviour". Which is good to know.
Still, the mother is not off the hook yet as the Department of Human Services (DHS) has launched an investigation into her actions. And she may face worse consequences than a negative seller rating on eBay as the DHS explained that if the children's welfare is deemed at risk, they may be removed from their mother.
This isn't the first case of selling people over the internet. Posh crooner James Blunt sold his sister on eBay - who ended up marrying her purchaser - and an English girl attracted bids of over $30k when she tried to sell off her "moaning" grandmother.
Still it's not so light-hearted when kids are involved. As the Victorian Child Safety Commissioner said: "children should not be used as the butt of jokes and [the mother] needs to find something more productive to do with her time".
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The advert appeared on eBay last week, complete with photos of the children - who are both under 10 - and an extensive advertorial as to why they would be a good buy. Which was clearly effective as the kids attracted several bids, according to a report in the Geelong Advertiser. But happily no sale took place, as the police were informed and the ad taken down.
Luckily for the mother, the police accepted her claims that that the attempt to offload her kids onto eBayers was "a joke" and they won't be pressing charges. But they did provide some handy best practice guidance about putting your kids up for auction, stating "the police discourage this kind of behaviour". Which is good to know.
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Another kids' sale yesterday |
Still, the mother is not off the hook yet as the Department of Human Services (DHS) has launched an investigation into her actions. And she may face worse consequences than a negative seller rating on eBay as the DHS explained that if the children's welfare is deemed at risk, they may be removed from their mother.
This isn't the first case of selling people over the internet. Posh crooner James Blunt sold his sister on eBay - who ended up marrying her purchaser - and an English girl attracted bids of over $30k when she tried to sell off her "moaning" grandmother.
Still it's not so light-hearted when kids are involved. As the Victorian Child Safety Commissioner said: "children should not be used as the butt of jokes and [the mother] needs to find something more productive to do with her time".
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