A man whose girlfriend authorities say spent nearly two years in a bathroom in their house, sitting on the toilet so long that the seat adhered to her body, has been charged with mistreatment of a dependent adult.
Kory McFarren, 37, was charged Monday in Ness County District Court.
McFarren called the Ness County Sheriff's Office in late February to say something was wrong with his girlfriend. When authorities arrived at the home, they found Pam Babcock, 35, stuck to the toilet, which they think she had sat on for about a month.
McFarren told authorities that Babcock feared leaving the bathroom and may not have left it in two years, although said he was unsure how long she was in there. He said that he took her food and water daily, and that he repeatedly asked her to come out but that she usually replied "maybe tomorrow."
"The only thing I am guilty of is I didn't get her help sooner," McFarren told The Associated Press nearly a week ago.
Ness County Attorney Craig Crosswhite said the mistreatment charge most closely fit the situation.
"I looked at the statutes and spoke to the attorney general's office," he said. "This was a very unusual set of circumstances, and this is the law that most closely applied to the situation."
Authorities said Babcock sat on the toilet so long that open sores developed and caused her to become attached to the seat. Sheriff Bryan Whipple has said that he used a pry bar to remove the seat from the toilet, and that the woman was taken to the hospital with the seat still attached.
"She would have to be sleeping on the toilet," Whipple said.
Doctors at a Wichita hospital where Babcock was taken told McFarren that an infection in her legs had damaged her nerves and could leave her in a wheelchair. She was still at the hospital Wednesday night.
McFarren's first court appearance will be in April, Crosswhite said.
A man whose girlfriend authorities say spent nearly two years in a bathroom in their house, sitting on the toilet so long that the seat adhered to her body, has been charged with mistreatment of a dependent adult.
Um, why is the boyfriend being charged because the girlfriend chose to stay on the toilet? I don't get it.
Would you let your girlfriend of 16 years stay in your bathroom for 2 years without making her come out and get help or calling the cops?
Would you let your girlfriend of 16 years stay in your bathroom for 2 years without making her come out and get help or calling the cops?
I wouldn't, no, and I don't know anyone who would. But he didn't put lock her in there against her will. So what crime did he commit?
(sorry, didn't reply in the right spot and can't fix it now).
He had the power to make her come out. And he didn't do it. Anybody with the right frame of mind knows better than to let someone sit in a bathroom for 2 years straight without getting them any help, calling the cops or anything like that. He had the capability to get her out 2 years ago and he didn't do it. To me, he deserves the charges for letting her sit there. He was the only one capable of getting her out of there, whether it be by calling the cops or getting a mental health professional and he chose to just let her go.
To me, he deserves the charges for letting her sit there.
Hard for me to find much sympathy for her, as she was not kept in there against her will. She made the choice to stay. Throughout the course of her life, this woman had been to the bathroom thousands of times. In each of those previous times, she did her business and then walked out, just like the rest of us do every day. Then one day she decides she doesn't want to come out, and it's the boyfriend's fault??
Again, what crime did he commit?
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