Baby trader mom indicted by grand jury

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Baby trader mom indicted by grand jury

Charges dismissed against Browns

By Nita Johnson Staff Writer The Sentinel-Echo Thu Sep 13, 2012, 02:03 PM EDT

LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — The mother who allegedly traded her baby to a Corbin couple for a decade-old pickup was indicted by a Laurel grand jury last week.

Heather Kaminsky, whose address is not listed, is charged with prohibited act or practice in the adoption of children and unlawful possession of methamphetamine precursors, first offense.

The 31-year-old woman reportedly offered Jeremy and Jamiee Brown her infant son in exchange for a 1999 silver Dodge Dakota pickup. Kaminsky, according to information given to police by Kaminsky’s mother, was childhood friends with the Browns.

Kaminsky was nine months pregnant with the male child when she fled Florida and came to Kentucky. Kaminsky has two other children that were in custody of the Florida social services and Kaminsky’s mother said her daughter left Florida to avoid social workers taking the third child.

The Browns allegedly took the child, basically from birth, and have cared for him since January of this year.

Information about the situation came to light in early July when Laurel County Sheriff’s officials launched an investigation into the incident. Tracking the registration of the vehicle, detectives investigating the case learned the Browns had been the previous owners of the pickup that Kaminsky had sold to the current owner, allegedly for $800 and an unspecified quantity of methamphetamine. The current owner of the vehicle confirmed the price he paid Kaminsky but denied any involvement with illegal drugs.

The Browns were arrested on July 12 after the investigation led to them as being the caregivers for the child. Initially, police said the Browns lied, stating Kaminsky and Jeremy Brown had had an affair and the infant child was the result of that affair. Kaminsky stated in a television interview Jeremy Brown’s name was listed as the father of the child on the birth certificate; however, neither police nor the Laurel County Attorney’s Office could verify that statement as Kaminsky did not produce said document.

The Browns were initially charged with human trafficking with a victim under 18 years of age, but that charge was revised when the case was sent to the grand jury last week.

Kaminsky was arrested in Putnam County, Fla., on July 18. She was returned to London the following week and her case was referred to the Laurel grand jury for indictment. Although she was originally charged with human trafficking of a victim under age 18, the charge was amended to selling or purchasing a child for adoption. Laurel County Attorney J. L. Albright said the charge was amended because the human trafficking applies more in cases where a child is sold for sex. Albright said the KRS statute that most appropriately fit Kaminsky’s case was for selling or purchasing a child for adoption.

The penalty for that charge is the same, however — a Class C felony that carries a five to ten year prison sentence.

The Laurel grand jury found no fault with the Browns and their charges were dismissed. The Browns said they were proceeding with their lives after the fiasco.

njohnson@sentinel-echo.com