TAMPA, FL -- The Hillsborough Sheriff's Office has opened a criminal investigation after an Apollo Beach teenager posted an ad on the website Craig's List where she appeared to offer up her baby for sale.
The 19-year-old single mother was interviewed by a detective Sunday, but has not been arrested or charged with a crime. The ad has since been pulled from the website.
The woman, who does have a toddler-age child, told investigators that it was all a "big joke" and that she was not trying to sell her baby, according to spokesman J.D Callaway.
The ad featured a photo of a toddler, but the woman said the photo was not of her child but was a random picture she found on the internet.
In the ad titled, "Brand New or Hardly Used," the woman claimed to the 18-year old mother of an 18-month-old girl named Annabelle, saying her career was taking off and "I have no time to spend with her."
She offered a "bill of sale" and said her only request was to meet the girl when she turned 16, so she "can understand the pain she has caused me".
Callaway didn't release the woman's name, but said she still has custody of her child.
The Sheriff's child's protective investigators will visit the 19-year-old's home to make sure the child is being properly cared for.
