Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MongoTheGeek

macrumors 68040
iGAV said:

There are 3 types of people who would be interested in this.

1) People who are looking for a child to take care of, who are good intentioned well meaning people.

2) Sicko's, preverts etc.

3) People buying a playmate for their children (see The Toy with Richard Pryor)

My big thought is that the crackheads have stumbled into the 21st century.
 

question fear

macrumors 68020
Apr 10, 2003
2,277
84
The "Garden" state
Dippo said:
That people would bid at all is crazy.
Only child molesters would want to "buy" a kid to "play" with them!

exactly.
i was implying it was just as bad if not worse that people wanted to bid on a child to play with. esp. b/c that auction probably wasnt up for terribly long.
 

MongoTheGeek

macrumors 68040
Dippo said:
That people would bid at all is crazy.
Only child molesters would want to "buy" a kid to "play" with them!

There are a lot of people who buy things other than for their suggested uses. I buy Q-Tips to stick them into the ear canal and remove earwax from there (where is says explicitly not to)

Some of the bids may have been to get the child into a safe situation.
 

Nny

macrumors regular
Apr 7, 2004
160
0
How much were they asking for shipping? Do they ship to the U.S.?

By the way... I'M KIDDING!
 

Nny

macrumors regular
Apr 7, 2004
160
0
MongoTheGeek said:
There are a lot of people who buy things other than for their suggested uses. I buy Q-Tips to stick them into the ear canal and remove earwax from there (where is says explicitly not to)

Really? I thought that was the only use for Q-Tips. I guess I never read the box.
 

claytonbench

macrumors member
Dec 7, 2002
79
0
Humboldt, KS
Even if you just bid as a joke. You have just opened up the next few months at least to the police and even rumors being started of you being a child molestor. So if it was a joke bid, this will be one of the biggest bad jokes of their life.
 

question fear

macrumors 68020
Apr 10, 2003
2,277
84
The "Garden" state
MongoTheGeek said:
There are a lot of people who buy things other than for their suggested uses. I buy Q-Tips to stick them into the ear canal and remove earwax from there (where is says explicitly not to)

Some of the bids may have been to get the child into a safe situation.

yea but if i had seen this auction i would have alerted ebay to call child services, not purchased the child.
its a nice thought that someone wanted to protect the child, but as someone else mentioned, i would think twice before bidding on a child on ebay, if only for the investigation this would cause...
 

PickledSquirrel

macrumors regular
Dec 10, 2003
236
0
Aarhus, DK
once again, not only does reality beat fiction. It wraps fiction in chickenwire with heavy weights on it, and chucks it into the harbour on a silent night.
 

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
Dippo said:
That people would bid at all is crazy.
Only child molesters would want to "buy" a kid to "play" with them!
Hey Michael Jackson did it all the time.
attachment.php
 

wdlove

macrumors P6
Oct 20, 2002
16,568
0
Will have to wait until the police have completed their investigation. If this was a joke or not, the child should be removed from the home. They have demonstrated the their decision making process is faulty. The safety of the child should come first. :(
 

Sparky's

macrumors 6502a
Feb 11, 2004
871
0
Had to be a joke, if the police really wanted to catch these people they would have played along and just outbid everyone else, then traced it back to the person.
 

crenz

macrumors 6502a
Jul 3, 2003
619
27
Shanghai, China
FYI, German news reported some additional detail. The kids were living with their mother and her current boyfriend. The investigation is still going on (they are also investigating against the bidders, so don't joke-bid on such offers), but authorities already placed the kids in the custody of the father. Seems once they were asked (in the absence of their mother!) where they want to stay, the kids were quite clear about wanting to be with their father.
 
The first thing I thought of was that it would be a pretty effective threat....

"If you don't eat all your dinner, I'm going to put you on ebay!"
"If you don't go to bed this instant, I'm going to put you on ebay!"
If you don't do what your father tells you, I'm going to put you on ebay!"

Perhaps the child called the mothers bluff!
 

coolsoldier

macrumors 6502
Jan 7, 2003
402
0
The 909
I think people just like to "push" ebay to see how far they can take it. I can't believe that anybody would think they could get away with auctioning off a child...

As for the people who bid, there's the investigation, but for what crime? Since the auction was pulled, no illegal transaction took place. The law can't claim to know what they "intended" to do. Now, if the auction had actually been completed and somebody "bought" the girl, then I could see going after the buyer, but in this case, there was no buyer because the auction never closed.

Of course, the parents, who did unquestionably attempt to sell a child, should have their children taken away and the father given a forced-vasectomy to make sure they never have children again, but that might also be beyond the scope of the law.
 

question fear

macrumors 68020
Apr 10, 2003
2,277
84
The "Garden" state
coolsoldier said:
I think people just like to "push" ebay to see how far they can take it. I can't believe that anybody would think they could get away with auctioning off a child...

As for the people who bid, there's the investigation, but for what crime? Since the auction was pulled, no illegal transaction took place. The law can't claim to know what they "intended" to do. Now, if the auction had actually been completed and somebody "bought" the girl, then I could see going after the buyer, but in this case, there was no buyer because the auction never closed.

Of course, the parents, who did unquestionably attempt to sell a child, should have their children taken away and the father given a forced-vasectomy to make sure they never have children again, but that might also be beyond the scope of the law.


my guess is a background check and some unofficial investigating...while they didnt do anything wrong, its certainly suspicious. and what if it escalates?

now, is this right? no. i think its scary that the police watch what we do online.

on the other hand, how is investigating people who bid any different then undercover cops posing as kids in chatrooms?
 

hob

macrumors 68010
Oct 4, 2003
2,004
0
London, UK
Sun Baked said:
Hey Michael Jackson did it all the time.
attachment.php

On a slightly unrelated topic...

Posh got back at Becks by saying that she slept with Michael Jackson...

Jackson denied these claims saying he was "in brooklyn" at the time

Laugh with me now my british friends!! :D
 

crenz

macrumors 6502a
Jul 3, 2003
619
27
Shanghai, China
question fear said:
i think its scary that the police watch what we do online.

Well, the police so far rely on people reporting illegal auctions, they don't monitor eBay (at least in Germany).

Let's not forget that the bidders have entered a legally binding contract to buy an eight year old girl. This is something the police should look into.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.