little boyJessica Marie Beers is like a lot of single moms out there. She's struggling to make ends meet. But unlike most single moms, she tried to sell her her 5-year-old son. For $2,000.

According to police, the 28-year-old mom tried to pawn her boy off to a couple she befriended at her Tampa Bay church. After Beers made the insane offer, James Gardner, the husband, alerted the authorities. In classic MacGyver fashion, the cops told him to go ahead and proceed with a phony deal. When Beers showed up at the decided-upon meeting spot to swap out her kid for the cash, she was immediately arrested and booked for sale of parental rights. Oh, and sidebar, she was also allegedly violating the terms of probation for a prior grand theft arrest. Keepin' it classy.

Apparently, Gardner and his wife had been giving money to Jessica for years so she could pick up "food and other basic necessities." They even let her move in with them at one point. Eventually, the couple realized that said food and necessities translated to boatloads of prescription drugs.

As disturbing and horrifying as this story is, I sort of feel like Jessica trying to sell her little boy wound up being a good thing. Because this possibly was the only way he was ever going to be taken away from her and put in child protective services. A woman like Jessica has absolutely no business being a mother, and as long as she kept a low profile (and had others watch him), nobody would have known just how unsafe her son was with her. So, nice going, Jessica. Your heartless, callous attempt at selling your only child would up working to his advantage.

What do you think about Jessica Beers?


Image via jillberg/Flickr