Calif. father accused of trying to sell his baby for $25 at Walmart is beaten by jail inmates

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune

SALINAS, Calif. - Jail officials in California say a father accused of trying to sell his baby for $25 outside a Walmart is recovering after other inmates beat him.

Thirty-eight-year-old Patrick Fousek and 20-year-old Samantha Tomasini, of Salinas, pleaded not guilty to child endangerment and drug charges Friday.

Fousek appeared in court with a bruised eye and stitches. Sheriff's Cmdr. Mike Richards said the man was attacked Thursday at the Monterey County Jail. He also suffered two cracked ribs and is now being held away from the general population.

Fousek is accused of approaching two women Wednesday and asking if they'd like to purchase his 6-month-old.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/nation/97232584.html

[DrDan]

1. it's hard to come up with any sympathy . . . . nope - can't do it

[kestrel91316]

17. Yeah, I dug pretty deep but couldn't find a speck.

[CatWoman]

33. neither do I

and I abhor vigilante justice....

[DrDan]

34. I know - there is no place for it in a civilized country

but . . . . I will just turn a blind eye to this particular case . . . and do so without feeling badly about it.

[niceypoo]

36. That is why we have a justice system

...because without a justice system we have vengeance, which isn't justice.

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. Thats the least of what he deserves.

[Trillo]

3. There's no linkage in the article, except for the title

between attempting to sell the baby and 'why' he was beaten by other inmates.

[liberation]

11. Was there any claim otherwise from the title?

[Aristus]

4. The idiot apparently was completely unaware of how many guys behind bars are fathers themselves.

They don't have any sympathy for baby-killers, baby-molesters, or baby-sellers.

Justice in an impure, but still very potent form...

[Trillo]

5. Nah.

As you say, "baby killers" and "baby molesters" or child rapists are one thing. Selling your baby, regardless that it's likely illegal, is still an attempt to find someone else who wants the baby.

Thus, while the former are violent acts of power, the latter is still a form of love.

[crim son]

12. "Want" the baby for what?

Anybody who thinks this through for more than thirty seconds must know that the baby could have ended up anywhere, used for any purpose. That's not love.

[Trillo]

19. And the same could be said for "adoption".

The difference being that with adoption, third parties are in the middle of the financial transaction, and all sorts of hoops are probably jumped through to avoid the appearance that the baby is being sold, rather payment is for the adoption "service". In this sense, it's probably much like organ transplants in countries where selling organs is illegal: lots of entities make money, just not the human, or their family, who donated the organ.

I don't think that finding a home for a child you don't want is violent, or an abuse of power, which is the linkage of the other violent acts the other poster mentioned. I also believe most inmates are smart enough to figure that out, which is why I commented.

If there is truth to this story, it's not being revealed yet. Some poster below said something to the effect, "the sheriff said". That's one possibility. Another might be that the word was let out by administration of the jail or their agents that this "non-convicted" inmate was a "child molester", instead of saying they were trying to find a home for their child that they no longer wanted.

[Honeycombe8]

25. Whoa....you don't understand adoption. Adoption is not "selling."

In a typical adoption, the mother (it's usually just a mother) gives up the child to an agency, and does not get any money. And the agency screens prospective parents. There is a financial check, a home inspection, an interview process, checking personal references and family references, etc. Sometimes there are age or other restrictions. At the end, there may be a rejection.

Sometimes a mother is a surrogate, offering to give birth to another's child for money. The child is not the birth mother's; she is merely carrying it.

Sometimes a mother finds new parents on her own; it is usually illegal for her to gain financially from adopting out her child to the new parents, although she can be recompensed for her prenatal expenses.

At no time in a normal adoption does anyone stand outside Wal-Mart and ask a stranger walking by if they want to buy a baby for $25.

[izquierdista]

31. Of course not

They sit in an air-conditioned office waiting for the customer "prospective parents" to walk in. The more Third World a country is, the more adoption resembles selling. I'll bet that in China, across the river from North Korea, you can get three babies for $25.

[liberation]

13. Wow

I give you a 9 out of 10 for your "concern" play, very creative, very well played.

Chapeau!

[Aristus]

14. He wasn't trying to find someone who wanted the baby. He was trying to find someone

who didn't want it less than he did.

It's a form of selfishness and monstrousness.

There's no love there at all...

[Trillo]

22. It may be selfishness, but that's not illegal.

I probably do agree with your "who didn't want it less than he did." The kid, in this sense, is somewhat like an unwanted pet: Two choices (at least), take it to the pound, where if a home isn't found in X hours, it's put to sleep; or take it instead to the Humane Society or a shelter where they do not euthanize.

Back to the kid, there are a lot worse things that these parents could have done. However, even arguing that is likely premature, they haven't yet been "convicted" of anything, if we are to believe the article's word "accused".

[northernlights]

30. if you take your kid to the adoption agency

and nobody adopts in xhours, it's put to sleep? I had no idea....

And there are many choices with a pet you cannot keep that do NOT involve pounds. There are many, many no-kill shelters and breed rescues out there.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

26. Selling your baby is a "form of love"?????

uh....

[Trillo]

46. So, which is better?

1. Being fed and clothed? (an orphanage is said do this, but so might parents who simply don't want their child)
Or
2. Being fed, clothed, and wanted (loved)?

If parents do not want their child, I contend it is absolutely much better to give up the child to someone else who might. At least there's a chance there'd be love one day. Thus, realizing you don't want the kid, but being willing to find someone else who did want the child, is an act of love in and of itself.

That's the rub. These parents had enough love for their child that instead of inflicting physical harm on baby (child molestation, rape, murder, etc), they were trying to find another home for him or her.

We've been told many times by our media, and advertisers, and businesses, that if we want something bad enough, we'd be willing to pay for it.

[Honeycombe8]

27. Selling your baby to a stranger is not an act of love. I wouldn't "get rid" of my dog that way. nt

[yellerpup]

38. Yes, love of dope.

He may have gotten beaten up in jail because he's an obnoxious addict going through withdrawals...or, maybe he's just a colossal jerk.

[davidinalameda]

40. form of love?

wow-that's so full of shit I don't know where to begin

[Ex Lurker]

15. agreed, but it's not because they're fathers

it's because almost all of them were victims of child abuse themselves.

[Proletariatprincess]

6. The sheriff said he was attacked by inmates?

yeah...could be true...maybe.

[Faygo Kid]

7. This is worthy of Latest Breaking News?

I don't think so.

[Tikki]

8. Meth much!!

[proteus_lives]

9. Not even 1% of what he deserves.

[MichiganVote]

10. Well Walmart does have everything and they do sell for less.

[boppers]

29. Dude!

x(

[SunnySong]

16. Tweekers gotta tweek... nt

[Old Vet]

20. Justice will be served to this man.........................

In the most violent and painful way in prison, hes a marked man, Its just a matter of time and opportunity.

[LuckyLib]

18. Best, most valuable product ever offered at WalMart. Ever.

[bluestateguy]

21. I hope they don't waste state resources on prosecuting the inmates who beat him

that would be a real waste of money.

[missheidi]

23. Yeah, no sympathy here.

Yeah, no sympathy here. Just can't do it.

[lunatica]

24. I hope the kid is put up for adoption and finds good parents

As for the parents. I hope they never have children again.

[Daveparts still]

28. There is a story here

but not the one told by "Jail officials" No one sane gets up in the morning gets up and says, "Hey Honey, lets go to Wal-Mart and sell the Kids!"

It's easy to get up a head of righteous indignation and say that's what he deserves. Happens all the time at be headings in Saudi Arabia and honor killings in Pakistan. It is the Baptism of holy spirit to condemn without trial or understanding of what was actually going on. Why a newspaper spoke a hundred words against them so he must be guilty.

These same newspapers said Saddam had Aerial vehicles that could kill us all in our beds so the herd shouted for blood. In your name hundreds if not thousands of babies have died in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan where is your righteous indignation for them? Or did they deserve it too?

Don't think that I'm trying to defend this man or this woman because there were two of them but only the man is a monster. I'm trying to defend you because maybe someday you'll be in jail and barbaric jail officials will announce to the crowd your heinous crime, "He spoke against the state". Mob justice is just mob, not justice.

Read about the Stanford Experiment and remember that the first step to bringing fascism to power is to publish a newspaper.

[yurbud]

32. a lot of inmates had absent or abusive fathers, so this probably struck a deep chord

[4saken]

35. Why is this here?!?

This isn't news. It just seems like an article designed to allow others gloat about someone in jail taking it into their own hands and getting violent. The guy that got beaten is obviously a nut or just really stupid, but that doesn't justify some random inmate's emotional reaction let loose. The guy that beat him could have let loose that same beating on some innocent individual, had he not been in jail. It's terrible regardless of the victim's absurd mental state. Anyone who says the man who beat him did a good thing is just a hypocrite. Don't answer one crime with another.

[MichaelHarris]

37. If it was at Walmart

why wasn't the price 24.96?

[Ikonoklast]

39. U.S. made baby, not a Chinese import.

They get a little more for domestic babies.

[Horse with no Name]

41. I don't advocate this type of retaliation

However, I'll still sleep fine tonight.
Chances are that 6 month old would have been better off with anyone but them.

[pink-o]

42. Okay, Posters, d'ya not get WHY the douchebag was trying to sell his kid?

Not out of love or wanting a better life for the kid. It's for his next FIX!!!!

How can anyone read about this and not figure it out? You don't even need the article to tell you he's a drug addict--probably Meth, but could be heroin. His mind is so fucked up by jonesing for his next dose, he's willing to offer his own kid for sale.

If there was any other agenda, he'd be advertising for adoption online or else he'd have turned the baby over to Child Protective Services. And I can't believe I even need to explain this!

As for the other inmates, that pretty well makes a statement in itself that a bunch of convicted Felons are morally outraged enough to beat the shit out of this guy. It's how they treat pedophiles, or anyone who brings harm to children. This guy's in that territory, according to men in PRISON!!!

[JI7]

43. what are the guys who beat him up in Jail for ?

[surrealAmerican]

45. Probably violent attacks on people they disapprove of.

Apparently jail time is not enough to modify their behavior, or even delay it.

[Taitertots]

44. Further proof that there is no justice in America

There is no justice in America because our prisons are designed to systemically abuse people. Beating someone for their alleged crimes is an even worse crime, not justice. What we have is a penal system, not a justice system.


If someone tried to sell me a baby, I'd more than likely buy it just to keep it out of their hands. I wouldn't get high and mighty, bemoaning them for drug addiction and poverty while ruining the rest of their life.