A 22-year-old man angry with a woman he dated posted photos of her 2-month-old daughter in a Craigslist ad and tried to sell the baby for $100, prosecutors said Monday.
Paul Marquez posted an ad entitled “baby for sale,” prosecutors said. Marquez’s posting acted as if he were the parent, said the baby loved to play and have fun, but had asthma and was “really getting on my nerves.”
“I don’t want her Please email me,” it read, authorities said.
Marquez was charged Thursday by Staten Island prosecutors with endangering the welfare of a child, harassment and a social service violation of authority to place or board out children. He was being held in lieu of $1,000 bail. A call to his attorney wasn’t returned.
According to the criminal complaint, Marquez, who works as a stockperson at a Victoria’s Secret, admitted he posted the listing just to get back at the woman. The two met online and had been out a few times, but he apparently was angry because she wouldn’t pay him enough attention, authorities said. He gave out the woman’s number “and offered her daughter for sale,” according to the criminal complaint. There was no indication he actually meant to sell the infant.
The mother called police after she received a phone call from a person offering to buy the baby, according to a criminal complaint. Staten Island investigators are looking into the request — it may have been out of concern and not an illegal attempt to purchase a child.
The posting was located in the Staten Island section of Craigslist under baby and kid stuff, for sale by owner. It was flagged and taken down at least once, but Marquez reposted it, authorities said.
Marquez faces up to a year behind bars if convicted.
