Authorities are considering charges in the bizarre case of a woman who sat on her boyfriend's toilet for two years so long that her body was stuck to the seat by the time the boyfriend finally called police.
Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple said it appeared the 35-year-old Ness City woman's skin had grown around the seat. She initially refused emergency medical services but was finally convinced by responders and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital.
"We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital," Whipple said. "The hospital removed it."
Whipple said investigators planned to present their report Wednesday to the county attorney, who will determine whether any charges should be filed against the woman's 36-year-old boyfriend.
"She was not glued. She was not tied. She was just physically stuck by her body," Whipple said. "It is hard to imagine. ... I still have a hard time imagining it myself."
He told investigators he brought his girlfriend food and water, and asked her every day to come out of the bathroom.
"And her reply would be, `Maybe tomorrow,'" Whipple said. "According to him, she did not want to leave the bathroom."
The boyfriend called police on Feb. 27 to report that "there was something wrong with his girlfriend," Whipple said, adding that he never explained why it took him two years to call.
Police found the clothed woman sitting on the toilet, her sweat pants down to her mid-thigh. She was "somewhat disoriented," and her legs looked like they had atrophied, Whipple said.
"She said that she didn't need any help, that she was OK and did not want to leave," he said.
She was reported in fair condition at a hospital in Wichita, about 150 miles southeast of Ness City. Whipple said she has refused to cooperate with medical providers or law enforcement investigators.
Authorities said they did not know if she was mentally or physically disabled.
Police have declined to release the couple's names, but the house where authorities say the incident happened is listed in public records as the residence of Kory McFarren. No one answered his home phone number.
The case has been the buzz of Ness City, said James Ellis, a neighbor.
"I don't think anybody can make any sense out of it," he said.
Ellis said he had known the woman since she was a child but that he had not seen her for at least six years.
He said she had a tough childhood after her mother died at a young age and apparently was usually kept inside the house as she grew up. At one time the woman worked for a long-term care facility, he said, but he did not know what kind of work she did there.
"It really doesn't surprise me," Ellis said. "What surprises me is somebody wasn't called in a bit earlier."
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Skin growing around the seat, eew! Now how would it be comfortable to even sit on a toilet for an hour? Now if somebody sat on my toilet for more than 3 hours, I'd call the ambulance!
Oh man. This totally makes my gag reflex go into overdrive. Dirty bathrooms are what nightmares are made of, imo, and I can't imagine this situation without getting a dirty, ick feeling. *shudder*
I don't understand how that's possible! I remember a story about a woman who's skin fused with the couch fabric and I didn't understand that either. I guess when you don't move for two years, strange things can happen.
I don't understand how that's possible! I remember a story about a woman who's skin fused with the couch fabric and I didn't understand that either. I guess when you don't move for two years, strange things can happen.
I read a story like that too, but it made more sense to me because couches are actually fiber. A toilet is a smooth surface!
What the crap took him so long? I still don't get why she was on the toilet for so long. What she stuck? Did she just want to sit there? I can't imagine any other scenario than she is mentally handicapped.
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That lady and her boyfriend must both be insane! You would think he would have been the voice of reason and had the common sense to call before two years! I can't believe she slept on there every night.
Well on a positve note she was a VERY cheap girlfriend for the guy. Just some food, water and some toilet paper was all she needed for two years!
I am making no comment on this because I simply have no words. Except that I hope they do charge him!
Here's an update:
NESS CITY, Kan. - A man should be charged for allowing his girlfriend to sit on their toilet so long that her body became stuck to the seat, the sheriff said Thursday.
Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple was among authorities who discovered the woman last month living in the bathroom of a mobile home she shared with her boyfriend, Kory McFarren.
"The house was cluttered but not in shambles," he said. "The smell was overpowering a terrible smell about the house, obviously coming from where she was at."
McFarren, 36, told police his girlfriend, Pam Babcock, 35, had a phobia about leaving the bathroom and may not have left the bathroom in two years, although he's unsure how long she was in there.
He said during that time, he brought her food, water, and clean clothes.
"The only thing I am guilty of is I didn't get her help sooner," he told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The sheriff said that judging by the woman's condition she had open sores on which the toilet seat would stick it appeared she likely sat on the toilet continually for at least a month.
"She would have to be sleeping on the toilet," the sheriff said.
Whipple asked the county attorney to charge McFarren for mistreatment of a dependent adult. The prosecutor did not return phone calls seeking comment.
"The unfortunate thing is this truly is a case of two people, in my opinion, with diminished mental capacity," Whipple said.
McFarren, who works at an antique store, said he has been taking care of Babcock for the 16 years they have lived together. He insisted that he tried to coax her out of the bathroom every day. The home has a second bathroom.
McFarren said he finally called police Feb. 27 after he became worried because Babcock was acting groggy, as if she didn't know what was going on around her.
What emergency responders found when they entered the bathroom has left many in the town of about 1,500 people buzzing and authorities incredulous.
Whipple said the seat was taken off the toilet so the woman could be transported to the hospital for treatment.
Doctors at the Wichita hospital told the boyfriend an infection in her legs has damaged her nerves and may leave her in a wheelchair, he said.
-- Edited by atlgirl at 07:05, 2008-03-14
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thanks for the update...I had heard about this on the news but never heard the update. It's just crazy. Maybe they were both mentally handicapped. I have known of several mentally handicapped people living with others who are the same or worse off than themselves. I could see this happening in those situations.
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