A Warren County couple has pled guilty to purchasing a one-month-old baby.
The couple, 46-year-old Pascual J. Manuel and 39-year-old Catarina J. Felipe, of Bowling Green, bought the baby in late 2019 for $2,000 from the infant’s mother, 32-year-old Maria D. Perez, also of Bowling Green.
Under the plea agreement, prosecutors reduced the original charge from a felony to attempting to sell or purchase a child for the purpose of adoption, according to the Associated Press.
Manuel said through an interpreter, “We just didn’t know the laws of how everything works here. We were just trying to adopt a baby.”
Perez pled guilty last year to second-degree wanton endangerment and was given two years of conditional discharge (probation).
Manuel and Felipe were also given two years of conditional discharge, as they agreed to “lead a law-abiding life … during the period for which the sentence remains subject to revocation,” according to Kentucky Revised Statute 533.030.
The investigation began in December 2019 when officials at Parker Bennett Curry Elementary School notified police that the baby was no longer in its home. Bowling Green Police Department spokesman Ronnie Ward told news outlets that a staff member at the school had been monitoring the family after concerns were raised about the well-being of Perez’s five children, including the infant who was sold.
The Bowling Green Police Department questioned Perez who initially said she gave her baby to the couple. Upon further questioning, though, Perez said she sold the baby to the couple for $2,000.
(Headline photo: Pascual J. Manuel, Catarina J. Felipe)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
