Woman accused of selling 1,000 ounces of someone else’s breast milk

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An Eldon woman was charged on Tuesday in Cole County after she allegedly sold 1,000 ounces – or roughly 62.5 pounds – of someone else’s breast milk that she led a customer to believe it was her own.

Emily Buckley is charged with committing deceptive business practices. Court filings show she posted a pre-set $2,500 bond and her warrant was withdrawn.

The probable cause statement says someone described as “Witness 1” had previously made “donations” to Buckley. A second witness -- after speaking to Witness 1 -- was allegedly contacted by Buckley, asking if she would like to purchase breast milk, the statement says.

Witness 1 made a social media post about the incident, which the victim saw and led to her contacting law enforcement, the statement says.

The victim told law enforcement that she allegedly bought roughly 1,000 ounces of breast milk from Buckley on March 13 in the 2500 block of Southridge Drive in Jefferson City. The victim reported having “issues” with the breast milk, the statement says.

The victim allegedly had screenshots of messages between her and Buckley that would indicate the victim thought the milk came from Buckley, court documents say. She allegedly paid Buckley $200 through the website PayPal.

“In one message, Defendant stated, ‘I bag after each pump and freeze immediately.’ Victim stated that Defendant led her to believe this was Defendant's breast milk,” the probable cause statement says.

Police spoke with Buckley over the phone on Saturday, May 23, where she allegedly admitted to selling the breast milk of someone described as “Witness 3” to the victim, the statement says.

“I asked Defendant whether Defendant believed Victim thought the milk was Defendant's breast milk; Defendant stated that is what Defendant believes people think,” the officer wrote in the probable cause statement.

The officer spoke with Witness 3 that same day, and she allegedly told police that she had donated breast milk to Buckley in March, but told police she thought it was for Buckley’s child.