Australian woman denies trying to sell baby over internet
An Australian woman has pleaded innocent to two charges of trying to sell her baby over the internet to a couple from New York.
The woman, whose name is being withheld by court order, appeared in a Melbourne court to answer two charges under the 1984 Adoption Act relating to making an agreement to receive money in an adoption deal.
She faces a maximum sentence of two years if convicted.
Prosecutors told the Dandenong Magistrates Court that the woman became pregnant in December 2000 and advertised on the internet that she was putting the child up for adoption.
A New York couple made contact and the woman allegedly told them she wanted a sum of money to pay her expenses. The American couple were not identified.
No money changed hands and the woman later backed out of the deal after giving birth to her child. Prosecutors said the mother told police she did not know her actions were illegal.
The case has been set down for a two-day hearing from November 13.
Last month, the 39-year-old mother told a newspaper she became pregnant after being raped.
But after the baby "was born and handed to me I knew then there was no way I could give her away," Melbourne's Herald Sun tabloid quoted the woman as saying.
The child, now a year old, has been taken into care by a state welfare agency because of fears for her well-being.
