Man tried to sell daughter for home improvements

A man raising his 18-month-old daughter alone tried to sell the little girl for €5,700 so he could make improvements to his house.

Danny Vu, of Appleton, Wisconsin, a US citizen originally from Vietnam, tried to sell his daughter to a couple who helped authorities in the investigation, Grand Chute Police Chief Ed Kopp said.

“He was having difficulties raising the child alone and wanted to use the money for some home remodelling,” Kopp said.

Vu, 37, was charged with unauthorised adoption placement, an offence that carries up to six years in prison.

The daughter showed no signs of physical abuse, Kopp said. Officials will probably place her in temporary foster care.

The man wanted to sell the girl “and didn’t want anything to do with the baby after that”, Outagamie County district attorney Carrie Schneider said.

The man owns a nail salon in Green Bay.

A salon employee told the man he knew a woman who was looking to adopt a baby, and they were introduced, police said. A friend of the woman later called police.

Schneider said the couple wanted to follow legal adoption procedures, but the man did not want to involve lawyers.

Police arrested the man after the woman called police to say he was on his way to their home with the girl on Wednesday night, Kopp said.

“We obviously had some concern about the child and what condition she was in, so we made the decision to intercept him,” he said.

The girl’s mother left the area several months ago and was not in the country, Schneider said.