SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah attorney believes a couple from Arizona has traveled here to sell their baby. Personnel in maternity wards in Utah have been ordered by a judge to watch for this couple and call police and Child Protective Services if they see them.
According to court documents, Alison and Gary Stuckey already are the parents of at least four children, with a fifth on the way. Their parental rights to three of those children have been severed; a foster family in Mesa, Ariz., has cared for the three youngsters for years. That family is in the process of adopting the children.
"It's just how I was brought up, that you take in people and help them how you can," said the foster father, whom KSL 5 News has chosen not to identify.
When the foster couple learned Alison Stuckey was pregnant again, they went to the motel where she was living.
The foster family's attorney, Wesley Hutchins, said, "My client approached the birth mother and asked if they could also raise this unborn child once the child arrived, and the mother indicated she would love to have them raise the child, but she needed the money."
The price the prospective parents are seeking, Hutchins said, is $6,000. He was contacted by the foster family after Gary Stuckey failed to show for a court appointment. A relative told the judge the couple had gone to Utah to have the baby.
Right now, no one knows where the couple is, and it's possible the baby has already been born, Hutchins said.
"Anyone who has a conscience would find it morally and ethically repugnant to essentially sell a human life to the highest bidder," he said.
Court documents also allege the Stuckeys sold another baby in Utah about three years ago, also for $6,000.
It's important to note KSL has not been able to contact Alison or Gary Stuckey to get their response. However, we did speak to Alison Stuckey's parents, who back up the foster family's story. They're hopeful the Stuckeys will soon be found and are pleased that a judge signed the protective order.
"I truly am relieved that, at least this way, there will be some outside sources that will watch this process and make sure it's done correctly," the foster mother told KSL.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday morning in juvenile court to review the protective order. Representatives from the Utah Attorney General's Office and the guardian ad litem's officer are expected to attend.
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