Case dismissed against 'delusional' mom for slavery of daughters
UNION COUNTY, NC (WBTV) - The federal case has been dismissed against a woman accused of enslaving adopted girls in her Union County home.
Mercedes Farquharson is now a free woman.
We obtained court documents that explain exactly why a judge dismissed the case against her.
We know it was dismissed "without prejudice" - which means, the charges will not be re-filed.
Farquharson was found to be quote "delusional to the point of incompetence"
Investigators had said that Mercedes Farquharson held her two daughters hostage at a secluded home in Union County, North Carolina, and forced them to work 20 hours a day as modern-day slaves.
Farquharson vanished from Union County in 2006, but she was arrested in May 2009 by Interpol agents in Bulgaria during a traffic stop. She was using an alias.
Her two adopted daughters, Holly and Jasmine, were considered house servants, according to investigators. They worked 20 hours a day and claimed they were beaten if they didn't finish their chores, police said.
In 2006, Jamine recalled the demeaning tasks: "Every night, we had to take 300 chickens in cages and carry them across to the shed," she said.
WBTV has also learned that Farquharson lived in Spain for a time and has assumed as many as eight aliases while on the run from authorities.
We've also learned her lawyers are asking US Marshals to foot the bill for a flight to London.
The government claimed she fled there to avoid prosecution for allegedly holding her adopted daughters as slaves in this Union County home.