I blogged about this story before, but there is an update that makes me question it. Was he trying to sell his son, or was he "pan handling" to get money so that he could care for him? I'm not sure now, but I do know that if he was begging there are better areas to do it in.
Did Jason W. McCarthy try to sell his 2-year-old son to a woman in a Walgreen’s parking lot last month? Or, is it just a big misunderstanding?
McCarthy, 30, jailed for nearly a month on charges of child endangering, loitering in aid of a drug offense and a probation violation, is saying the woman is mistaken.
She misheard what he said, McCarthy’s lawyer said this morning in court.
"The only thing he did was ask for money for him and his child to get gas and food," defense attorney Cynthia Brandenberg said when McCarthy appeared for a brief hearing in municipal court.
Bethann Abel, the 29-year-old woman who called police on McCarthy, told a different story to police, city prosecutor LaRhonda Carson said.
"Her allegation is that he said to her, ‘Will you give me money for my son?’" Carson told Judge Mark Wall.
The two sides will square off at trial on Thursday. In the meantime, McCarthy remains jailed in lieu of $5,500 bail.
The Middletown man was arrested after a series of events that started at 1 a.m. March 26 when police received a call about a suspicious man in Walgreen’s parking lot on South Breiel Boulevard.
Abel told officers McCarthy approached her in the parking lot while she sat in her car. He was carrying the toddler and offered the boy for sale, she said according to the police report said.
Another officer linked McCarthy to the case after they found a red car that Abel had described and saw McCarthy talking to a person on a bike in an area known for drug trafficking. McCarthy told officers he was talking to a person about getting his car fixed.
Police found the child was in the back seat of the red car nearby with a woman, Amy Magruder, 34, of Middletown, in the driver seat.
Abel was not in court today and could not be reached later for comment. McCarthy’s son is in the custody of Butler County Children Services.
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