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Adoption attorney arrested after trying to buy baby from pregnant incarcerated woman by putting $846 in commissary ...
https://lawandcrime.com/crime/adoption-attorney-arrested-after-trying-to-buy-baby-from-pregnant-incarcerated-woman-by-putting-846-in-commissary-account-cops/Adoption attorney arrested after trying to buy baby from pregnant incarcerated woman by putting $846 in commissary account: Cops
DAVID HARRIS
Aug 4th, 2024, 11:52 am
A Texas adoption attorney allegedly tried to buy two babies from incarcerated women by putting money in their commissary accounts.
Jody Hall, 68, is facing two charges of sale or purchase of a child, a third-degree felony punishable by 10 years in prison. According to an arrest affidavit posted by Dallas NBC affiliate KXAS, detectives from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office obtained communications between Hall and a 29-year-old pregnant inmate via her jail tablet starting on March 13.
In the message, Hall introduces herself as the “Director of the Adoption Agency that you have signed with” and asks her to call her. Hall adds that she has “cash for your commissary.” Over the next two months Hall continued to speak with the inmate about the adoption, including asking whether her boyfriend would sign a document relinquishing his parental rights. However the relationship seemed to sour over time.
[...]
Detectives determined Hall put $846 in her commissary. According to Texas law, it is legal for prospective adoptive parents to pay for medical and housing expenses for expectant mothers putting up their babies for adoption. But investigators say the cash given by Hall does not meet those standards because those expenses were incurred by Tarrant County since the mother was an inmate at the jail.
[...]
DAVID HARRIS
Aug 4th, 2024, 11:52 am
A Texas adoption attorney allegedly tried to buy two babies from incarcerated women by putting money in their commissary accounts.
Jody Hall, 68, is facing two charges of sale or purchase of a child, a third-degree felony punishable by 10 years in prison. According to an arrest affidavit posted by Dallas NBC affiliate KXAS, detectives from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office obtained communications between Hall and a 29-year-old pregnant inmate via her jail tablet starting on March 13.
In the message, Hall introduces herself as the “Director of the Adoption Agency that you have signed with” and asks her to call her. Hall adds that she has “cash for your commissary.” Over the next two months Hall continued to speak with the inmate about the adoption, including asking whether her boyfriend would sign a document relinquishing his parental rights. However the relationship seemed to sour over time.
[...]
Detectives determined Hall put $846 in her commissary. According to Texas law, it is legal for prospective adoptive parents to pay for medical and housing expenses for expectant mothers putting up their babies for adoption. But investigators say the cash given by Hall does not meet those standards because those expenses were incurred by Tarrant County since the mother was an inmate at the jail.
[...]