A 73-year-old man was arrested and jailed in connection to an attempt to purchase a 10-month-old baby, officials with the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

Howell Gene Penton, of Picayune, Mississippi, is accused of soliciting a woman at the Angie Auction House in Angie to buy her baby girl, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The investigation began Wednesday and the Sheriff’s Office and Angie Police Department began an undercover operation Saturday, allowing them to obtain an arrest warrant for Penton. He was arrested the same day, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Penton was booked into the Washington Parish Jail on a felony sale of minor children count and is being held on a $200,000 bond, according to online jail records.

The investigation is ongoing and officials di

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