Charges have been dismissed against a young woman accused of putting an ad for her cousin's child on eBay.
Autumn Braden, 19, was charged on July 21 with one count of attempted false pretenses more than $1,000 less than $20,000.
Now she has been referred to the Kent County Prosecuting Attorney's Diversion Program, which is similar to probation. Once she completes the program, Braden's criminal record will be clean, according toprosecutor William Forsyth.
Forsyth gave two reasons: the woman has no record and it was a non-violent crime that came from a bad decision.
"It was apparent that all she was trying to do was to con someone out of money," he told 24 Hour News 8.
Braden posted the 2-year-old child's picture with a $1,000 price tag, authorities said. Some people saw the ad and called 911. Braden later told 24 Hour News 8 the ad was a joke.
Braden was babysitting the child at the time in May in Ottawa County. Authorities there transferred the case to Grand Rapids police who conducted their own investigation with the help of Ottawa County sheriff's deputies.
Though selling under false pretenses is a felony, Forsyth opted to give Braden a break. He dropped the charge and placed her in a diversion program - similar to probation except it sidesteps busy courts and probation departments.
Similar decisions were made when students stole a giraffe off a billboard or threw pop bottle bombs out of dorm windows.
"In my mind, a lot of them have made a mistake because they're young, they didn't think through what it was they were doing and in my mind they should not be scarred for life with a criminal conviction on their record," he said. "You start filling out job applications and you have to say you've been convicted of a crime...my guess is you have a lot of candidates who don't have that."
The program, for which about 200 people a year qualify in Kent County, has been in place for about 15 years. For the most part, offenders stay out of trouble.
Braden declined to speak with 24 Hour News 8. She was ordered to make positive changes and to keep things that way.
No comments:
Post a Comment