2 battle for custody of baby mom tried to sell

NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Two men battled in court for custody of an 8-month-old baby after, police say, the child's mother tried to sell him.

Tuesday afternoon, a judge granted temporary custody of the baby to the boy's legal father, Osmani Pellegrin. Pellegrin is the husband of Kenia Bosque, who remains behind bars for allegedly trying to sell the child.

At the hearing, Pellegrin was also granted custody of two other children he had with Bosque. He and his live-in girlfriend have been taking care of the three children since Bosque was arrested Sunday.

Yoel Boza, who drove up from Key West to be at the custody hearing, claims to be the baby's biological father and wanted the child.

The judge denied Boza's request for custody saying, "Legally, since Mr. Pellegrin is still married to the mother, he is still the father, and therefore you really don't have any right at this time."

Boza plans on getting a paternity test, and if he is the biological father of the child, he will seek custody.

On Tuesday morning, a judge set Kenia Bosque's bond at $25,000. "The title of the charge is illegal adoption," the judge said.

The judge did not hold back when reading the court's opinion in bond court. "The allegations aren't that she just tried to broker the sale of a child," Judge Victoria Brennan said, "she tried to broker the sale of her own flesh and blood. To this court, that callousness raises her level of danger to the community."

Sunday, police arrested 30-year-old Bosque after someone tipped off the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. According to authorities, the mother made arrangements to sell her child to a Monroe County man for $7,000.

Authorities said Bosque never showed up for the alleged sale of her child, but when officers went to her home to check on the well-being of the child, they said they had enough evidence to arrest her and take her son into custody.

Prosecutors say they believe the root of Bosque's problems may have been money. "It's really a sign of the tragic times because the economy is so bad for so many people, that it's just unimaginable, almost unspeakable that a mother would think to sell their child," said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

Bosque told the judge that she and her children were living on about $650 a month.

The apartment manager of the complex Bosque lived in with her children said Bosque was behind in rent, and he had filed to have her evicted later this week. "She was renting here for four months. The first two months she was fine, and then she began having money problems," said Raul Cordarvo through translation.

Bosque's neighbors cannot believe that Bosque would try to sell her child. "You're supposed to love your kids with everything you have. This just makes me so sad," said a neighbor through translation.

(Copyright 2011 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)