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.