A 73-year-old man from Picayune, Miss., has been arrested in Louisiana after allegedly attempting to buy a baby from her mother.
Howell Gene Penton is facing a charge of sale of minor children in Washington Parish, La., in connection with the alleged incident.
According to a press release from the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, Penton allegedly approached a woman at the Angie Auction House in the village of Angie, roughly 85 miles north of New Orleans, and asked if he could purchase her 10-month-old daughter.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation began on Nov. 26. Three days later, Washington Parish deputies and Angie police carried out an undercover operation in which Penton was arrested without incident.
Penton is currently being held at the Washington Parish Jail in Franklinton on a $200,000 bond, according to court records. It is not yet clear whether he has entered a plea or obtained legal representation.
