Woman Arrested For Allegedly Trying To Buy A Child At Walmart Checkout

A woman has been arrested after trying to buy another woman's child while waiting in line for the checkout at Walmart.

When you get to the checkout in a supermarket, there's often little stalls by the tills where you can buy all sorts of things like chewing gum or individual chocolate bars.

They're useful for picking up little knick-knacks you might have forgotten during your shop, only want to buy in small amounts, or just fancy chucking in with the rest of your items.

What isn't available to buy at the checkout, or indeed anywhere else in a supermarket, is somebody else's child, because buying human beings is illegal.

However, that's exactly what a woman in Texas allegedly attempted to do when she got to a Walmart checkout and decided she'd like to take someone else's child with her.

Local news outlet KSAT reports that 49-year-old Rebecca Taylor allegedly approached the woman as she queued for the checkout and started making comments about one of the children she had in her trolley.

She then allegedly asked whether she could buy him off the woman for a price of $250,000, an offer which was immediately rebuffed for the obvious reason that mothers don't tend to sell their kids, and especially not while they're in the queue for the checkout.

An undeterred Taylor then doubled her offer to $500,000, somewhat failing to grasp that when a stranger comes up to you in a supermarket and asks to buy your child off you, the sticking point is not the price.

Harris County Sheriff's Office said that Taylor then threatened to take the child anyway, but his mother managed to get out of the Walmart safely before alerting the authorities, who arrived and arrested Taylor.

The 49-year-old was charged with sale or purchase of a child, which in Texas is a third-degree felony. She was released from jail pending trial after posting a bail of $50,000.

If convicted, WFTV reports that Taylor faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

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