Three charged in sale of baby

A Whitley County Grand Jury indicted a young mother, her boyfriend, and a Michigan woman Monday morning in connection with an alleged scheme to sell a10-month-old infant girl for $5,000.
The grand jury charged Jessica Cornett, 18, Kenneth Couch, 22, and Kimberly Brick with a violation of KRS199.590, which states, “a person, agency, or institution shall not sell or purchase, or procure for sale or purchase any child for the purpose of adoption or any other purpose including termination of parental rights.”
According to the indictment, Cornett and Couch allegedly sold the infant to Brick for $5,000 for the purposes of adoption on Feb. 9.
“An adoption, to my knowledge, has not started, but the child was transferred to an individual, who paid $5,000 to these people for a child,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble. “It is illegal in Kentucky to purchase a child for adoption. We don’t want to traffic in children that is against everybody’s sense of right and wrong.”
Trimble said the transaction allegedly occurred in Whitley County.
The child is currently in the custody of social services.
Couch is not the baby’s father.
Trimble said Couch was Cornett’s boyfriend, and living with her at the time the transaction allegedly occurred.
In February, Couch told WKYT that the couple didn’t want to get rid of the baby, but had to after several threats were made against the couple and the child.
Couch told WKYT that the woman, who got the child, was a close family friend, and claimed that the arrangement were only temporary.
For complete details on the WKYT story, see the station’s website at www.wkyt.com.
Trimble said a charge of this nature is rare.
“The statute is there to protect the child. It’s not a statute we see a lot of activity with. It is the first time in 18 years that I have ever had a case like this. In fact, it is the first time I have ever had someone even talk about a case like this,” Trimble said. “It is unusual because it is not very common to see that around here.
“A lot of times it is very difficult for a case like this to come to the attention of law enforcement. In this particular case, it came to the attention of law enforcement while they were investigating another matter.”
At the time Williamsburg Police Detective Wayne Bird began the investigation, Cornett and Couch were in the Whitley County Jail on unrelated charges.
Jail officials said Couch was charged with fourth-degree assault and non-payment of fines, and that Cornett was being held for non-payment of fines at the time.
District Judge Dan Ballou recently ordered Couch and Cornett to serve one year in jail on a marijuana related charge after they failed to get their GED, which was the only requirement for them staying out of jail.
Judge Paul Braden has set a $5,000 bond for each defendant.
Brick posted bond at the circuit clerk’s office Tuesday morning.
So far neither of the three have been arraigned.
Court officials said the three will probably be arraigned May 9.
Trimble said he feels he has strong evidence against the defendants, but declined to get into the exact nature of the evidence.
“We believe we have both circumstantial, and physical evidence to support our case,” he added.
All three could face between one to five years in prison if convicted.