A Kentucky man has been arrested for trying to sell a four-year-old boy at a gas station after smoking methamphetamine, police said on Thursday. Harry Day, 29, was arrested after Kentucky State Police received a call saying a man was observed offering a child for sale at a mart in exchange for $2,500.
The incident took place on Sunday but reports of the man's desperate attempt to traffic the minor was made public only after he admitted to his crime and was sent to jail. The four-year-old boy's mother is reportedly Day's girlfriend, which made it easier for him to steal the child out of the house and put him up for sale.
Desperate Attempt
Kentucky State Police said that troopers responded to an unknown 911 call wherein the caller said that a man was trying to sell a four-year-old African-American boy at a Speedy Mart in Corbin, Kentucky. The caller described Day's car and license plate, after which police tracked down a White Nissan parked along Spider Creek Road.
Later, officers found the boy at his mother's house along with methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. The boy's mother was identified as Gertrude Henson, 26, who reportedly was high on drugs when police arrived at her home.
On interrogating, both Day and Henson admitted that they had been using methamphetamine. Police also suspect that Day tried to sell the baby to buy drugs but his plan was foiled at the right time.
Drugs and Crime
Police arrested both Day and Henson from their house and believe that the mother was equally involved in helping traffic the minor. Henson was arrested on drug charges and two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, while Day was charged with promoting human trafficking and driving under the influence.
Online arrest records indicate that Day has been in trouble with the law before for methamphetamine possession. However, he accepted the charges for which he ended up getting a shorter jail term, less than a year.
Child trafficking has been on the rise in the United States of late, but this incident has left the police shocked given that the mother helped in the trafficking plot of her child to raise money to buy meth.
According to authorities, human trafficking, also known as modern-day slavery, occurs in every state. Most of the victims are children, and more than three-quarters of them are girls. According to the State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons Report, the Justice Department secured convictions against 475 human traffickers in 2019. Of them, 454 were involved in sex trafficking, and 21 in child labor.
