What’s the price of a child?
For one Arkansas couple, according to police, their two-month-old son is worth a six-pack of beer and $1,000.
Darien Urban, 21, and Shalene Ehlers, 20, of Rogers, Ark., each face one count of endangering the welfare of a minor and attempting to accept consideration for relinquishment of a minor, according to Benton County Sheriff’s Office court records obtained by Law & Crime.
Authorities were contacted by the manager’s office at the Hide Away Campground and RV Park in Rogers, near Beaver Lake in the Ozarks, who said the parents of a newborn tried to give up their baby in exchange for a six-pack of beer and then the money, the affidavit alleged.
There was even allegedly a contract for the transaction.
“I Darien Urban and Shalene Ehlers are signing our rights over to Cody Nathaniel Martin of our baby boy (redacted) for $1,000 on 09/21/2024,” read the document, which included a disclaimer stating, “Disclaimer: After signing this there will be no changing yall two’s minds and to never contact again.”
A deputy arrived at the park and found that the baby needed medical attention. The infant was taken to hospital for evaluation by emergency medical personnel.
One witness said the baby smelled like ammonia and fecal matter and had a full diaper.
When she changed the diaper, she noticed the child had a heavy rash, blisters and swelling on his buttocks and genitals, the affidavit alleged.
She also claimed she saw dog hair inside the baby’s diaper.
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It appeared beer was the driving factor in the impromptu “adoption.”
Witnesses reported that another resident of the campground had earlier visited Urban and Ehlers and offered to take the baby for the night in exchange for several cans of beer, according to court documents.
Investigators said that after agreeing to the arrangement, Urban and Ehlers handed over the baby to the man along with a diaper bag.
When the detective asked the couple where the baby was, Urban said he was with another man “and that the baby was undergoing an adoption,” the affidavit alleged.
The two parents were detained and taken for further questioning at the sheriff’s office, where each gave similar accounts of the event, saying that they “videotaped (the agreement) to ensure it was legal and that they planned to ‘legalize’ it on Monday,” the document stated.
Urban and Ehlers were arrested on Sept. 21.
Urban was released from jail two days later on $50,000 bond, according to online jail records.
Ehlers remains held on $50,000 bond.
The baby is in the care of the Arkansas Department of Human Services.