Boyfriend Of Woman Stuck To Toilet Charged

(CBS/AP)  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.

"How in the world could someone let her stay there for 2 years and not get help of some kind from somewhere?" Babcock's first cousin Carmern McNamara asked CBS News affiliate WIBW-TV in Topeka.

McNamara says Pamela was close to her family until 15 years ago when she went to live with McFarren, but McFarren says it was Pamela's decision not to talk to her family.

McFarren's first court appearance will be in April, Crosswhite said.

[shanev137]

Anyone believing that woman was sitting on that toilet voluntarily all those two years needs to get a reality check up ASAP.

---------



Anyone who believes that she couldn''t run out the door or made a phone call for help during those two years while he was out grocery shopping/working, needs to get a reality check up ASAP.

[grammawhamma]

rudy654: Please read the article before you comment. She was not sitting on the toilet for two years. Also research agoraphobia.
-------
God "BLESS" America

[candide777]

Great example of how as$backwards our criminal justice system is. This guy needs a pyschiartrist, not a jail sentence. Republicans who support this kind of rough justice should be locked up, not this guy.

[cyberus-2009]

Since she had to be convinced by her *rescuers* to ALLOW them to take her from the bathroom I don''t see how he can be held responsible .. except as has been mentioned a conviction happy prosecutor ramming some obscure statute down the throat of 12 people to dumb to get out of jury duty

[scottyusa]

Obviously they are both loony so I say leave them alone. 2 years? No way. He should have called 911 after a few hours or a day at the very most. I would believe a month maybe but that is hard to swallow even.

[rudy654-2009]

Anyone believing that woman was sitting on that toilet voluntarily all those two years needs to get a reality check up ASAP.

[shanev137]

He should have thrown the b!tch out of his trailer on the third day of her being on the pot, and never let her back in.

Let this be a lesson to all you guys out there.

[grammawhamma]

This woman was suffering from a severe form of agoraphobia. Her boy friend should NOT be charged with anything. (He called for help when he realized she was not well physically.) It is not a crime to be agoraphobic.

If the boy friend would have called authorities the first week this woman spent in the bathroom...what do you think would have happened?? My guess is they would have laughed at him and done nothing.

[stn_sage]

timetrips1 - I agree with you. The prosecutor is searching for a law under which her boyfriend can be charged?! Are you kidding me?! GET A LIFE ALREADY!

These people used poor judgment and both might be just a little slow mentally, but charging them with a crime(s), is only complicating/increasing the problem NOT fixing it!

I don''t know if the woman''s a Republican, but I''d bet the prosecutor is!

[fibonacci_]

This woman must be a Republican.