350-Pound Man Living as 'Adult Baby' Reserves Right to Collect Disability Checks

Stanley Thornton gets bottle-fed/Screengrab

Redding, CA is a bit further north than most towns that find themselves in our wheelhouse of coverage -- nearly nuzzling the Oregon border, it's a good 550 miles away from Los Angeles. But there's a story going on up there that's so voyeuristically fascinating, we thought it bore telling on the grounds that, hey, we're all Californians.

Here's the way it goes:

Stanley Thornton, Jr., is 30 years old and calls Redding home. There, the 350-pound man dons a gigantic diaper, is bottle-fed by a retired nurse, plays with action figures, sucks a pacifier and wears onesies. He calls himself an "adult baby."

Earlier this year, Thornton appeared on the National Geographic show "Taboo" to showcase his lifestyle. He claims that he was abused as a child and suffers from PTSD, depression and bipolar disorder. For these problems, he collects disability, and so doesn't hold a job.

But here's the catch. On the NatGeo show (I know because I watched it), Thornton eloquently and thoughtfully described the lifestyle of an adult baby. He was featured designing and building extra large cribs for himself, and it later came out that he set up and runs a website that serves as a community for others living as adult babies.

When Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Republican and defender of justice, caught wind of all this, he was not happy. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Coburn wrote a letter to Inspector General Patrick O'Carroll, which read, in part:

“Given that Mr. Thornton is able to determine what is appropriate attire and actions in public, drive himself to complete errands, design and custom make baby furniture to support a 350-pound adult and run an Internet support group, it is possible that he has been improperly collecting disability benefits for a period of time.”

In response, Thornton sent a letter to the Washington Times -- the paper that ran Coburn's letter -- threatening suicide if his disability was taken away:

You wanna test how damn serious I am about leaving this world, screw with my check that pays for this apartment and food. Try it. See how serious I am. I don’t care. I have no problem killing myself. Take away the last thing keeping me here, and see what happens. Next time you see me on the news, it will be me in a body bag.

It seems as though the threat of suicide trumps the sense of injustice that rattled Coburn to the bone: according to the New York Daily News, Thornton recently received a letter from Social Security stating that his disability checks would continue to arrive.

And so, the Redding saga continues...

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By Jessica Pauline Ogilvie in News on October 20, 2011 10:40 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Sargear

I'm confused. Is Occupy LA supporting this person? I agree that PTSD and biopolar disorders can be difficulty, but this person is taking advantage of the system and draining society resources.

Crystal S. L.

Damn I have Borderline Personality Disorder and Depression. Sometimes I don't even feel like leaving my house! Maybe I should cheat the system too hah.

While living with PTSD and bipolar disorder is difficult, I feel like this man is abusing the disability system. Going on his assertion that he cannot get a job because of his mental disability, I feel like he should go to therapy if he is to keep receiving such checks. Just so he is making progress on his own mental stability.

mallhonitor

This is like a little kid threatening to run away if its parents don't buy it candy and ponies and shit.

Kat

Ugh. Put him in a mental institution with white walls.

serenitytina

Give me a break!! PTSD because he was abused as a child, depression and bi-polar. Here I am, a 49 year old divorcee who was in a traumatic car accident on June 12, 2011 Yes this past June and lost my the lower part of my left arm (just above my elbow) but have already returned to work(which is as an Instructional Aide at a High School, am continuing to attend my evening classes at college because when I called to inquire about my REAL DISABILITY!! SOCIAL SECURITY TOLD ME THAT I COULDN'T GET A DIME AFTER WORKING MY TAIL OFF FOR 30 YEARS BECAUSE MY DISABILITY WOULDN'T BE PERMANENT AS I WAS GOING TO BE ABLE AT SOME POINT TO RETURN TO WORK. This is why people are rioting and demonstrating because of the people like this guy who are lazy and figured out how to abuse the system. I pulled it together and you think I don't have PTSD and Depression after my accident, and not to mention my mother was bi-polar (hmm, isn't that genetic). But here I am fighting against everything so I can work and have my tax dollars go to support his LAZY, DISGUSTING, FAT ASS!! He is working if he is running a website yet our government continues to send him money because he threatens suicide if they cut off his checks then they are enabling him and encouraging others to be fraudulent and abuse the system. Look out Social Security because I am feeling serious depression coming on over the injustice of this and I might have to seek professional help, quit work and you better send me a check so I don't kill myself. I say lock him up in a mental institution as he is a danger to himself and use the checks to help pay to keep him there otherwise please stop wasting my tax dollars and everyone elses.
Loved by my students and Community

destroy_all_humans

i dont think you should get welfare for being fat.

MTkill_a_manJaro

...i call him on the whole suicide thing. seems that he's just too in love with his lifestyle to end it all like that.

E.

fuck. you mean i went and got me a career as a PR director at William | Morris, and I coulda claimed im an adult baby with PTSD and just collected checks for nothing?

fuck ive been doing it wrong.

*SMH*