An Arkansas couple made headlines when they were arrested for attempting to sell their baby boy to a stranger at a campsite for $1,000 and a six-pack of beer. Darien Urban, 22, and Shalene Ehlers, 21, recently entered separate plea deals in Benton County court.
The couple’s arrest came after officers from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office received a tip that Urban and Ehlers had signed a letter granting custody of their baby to a man at the campsite. The written contract stated that the couple, in exchange for $1,000, were relinquishing their parental rights to the baby. Witnesses provided the signed contract to investigators, which included a disclaimer stating that once signed, there would be no further contact.
A witness at the Beaver Lake Hide-A-Way Campground in Rogers used the manager’s office phone to alert the police of the attempted baby sale. The couple was charged with endangering the welfare of a minor and attempting to accept compensation for relinquishment of a minor.
Urban pleaded guilty to one count of attempted accepting compensation for adoption and was sentenced to three years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections, with an additional three-year sentence suspended. Ehlers pleaded guilty to both charges and was placed on state-supervised probation for six years by Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren.
The shocking case of the Arkansas couple trying to sell their baby for money and alcohol serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting children and upholding the welfare of minors. The plea deals reached by Urban and Ehlers send a strong message about the consequences of such heinous actions.
