Delaware Mom Bridget Wismer Pleads Guilty to Selling Newborn Daughter to John Gavaghan for $15,000

A Delaware woman has pleaded guilty to selling her newborn daughter to a Philadelphia man for $15,000 because she did not want another child and wanted to go to Disney World. The buyer has also pleaded guilty.

NBC Philadelphia reports that Bridget Wismer, age 34, appeared in court and pleaded guilty but also mentally ill to a single felony count of falsifying a birth certificate. John Gavaghan, 55, of Philadelphia also pleaded guilty to one count of falsifying a birth certificate.

Both face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. They will be sentenced on August 17.

According to ABC News, Wismer agreed to sell her newborn baby son to Gavaghan in exchange for $15,000 last September. A court affidavit alleged that Wismer did not want another child and wanted to go to Disney World.

Wismer’s grandmother alerted police after learning about the scheme. Surveillance video from the Delaware Park Racetrack on September 3, four days after the baby’s birth, showed Gavaghan signing sale documents and paying Wismer with cash and a money order.

Those documents were found during a September 30 police search of Gavaghan’s home. He admitted to buying the baby and was arrested. The child was placed in foster care. Wismer was arrested later that day.

“He was going to raise the baby and give the baby a life that I couldn’t give because of my situation,” Wismer, who is unemployed, said of Gavaghan. “He was just looking out for me and the baby. We both just love this baby so much.”

Wismer’s baby remains in the custody of Delaware’s Department of Family Services.

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