'He has the skills to hold down a job': Senator demands to know why 'adult baby' who wears diapers and drinks from a bottle is allowed to collect disability benefits



Why? The senate's 'waste watcher' Tom Coburn is still confused about Thornton's inability to work

The senate's top waste watcher is demanding to know how people who live their lives as 'adult babies' are able to claim disability payments.

Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn was incensed into action after watching a recent programme where an adult baby, who was featured wearing diapers, sleeping in a crib and feeding from a bottle, was also able to build the life size crib, drive a car and set up a website.

Senator Coburn has asked the agency's inspector general to look into how 30-year-old Stanley Thornton Jr and his 'mother' Sandra Dias are able to collect Supplemental Security Income instead of working.

According to the Washington Times, in a letter to Inspector General Patrick P. O'Carroll Jr, Senator Coburn wrote: ' 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.'

Congress are currently struggling to cut budgets and waste in order to try and bring down the staggering deficit.

It also comes just days after Social Security’s trustees released a grim assessment of the programme’s long-term financial health.

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Childhood comforts: Stanley Thornton is bottle-fed by room-mate Sandra Dias, a former nurse, who died in July this year

Regression: Mr Thornton says there's nothing else like waking up in a crib - which he built himself - every morning, and it helps him get into the baby 'mindset' Mr Thornton was featured on National Geographic's 'Taboo: Fantasy Lives' programme at the beginning of May along with his carer Ms Dias who acts as his mother, changing his diapers, feeding him and putting him to bed. He suffers from a condition known as paraphilic infantilism and lives as an adult baby in his California apartment , where he has built himself a giant crib, play pen and even a man-sized high chair. In an email response to The Washington Times, Mr Thornton threatened to kill himself if his Social Security payments are taken away, and said the television episode showing him doing woodwork oversold his abilities.

Threat: Stanley Thornton said he would kill himself if his payments were stopped

Content: Mr Thornton said he adapted this child's playpen by putting a thick layer of wood in the bottom so it would support his weight

He wrote: '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.'

But Mr Coburn said that the fact he was able to set up his website, www.bedwettingabdl.com and build his 'nursery' made him ineligible for disability payments.

He said that the 30-year-old is 'cognizant that his choice to live as an adult baby violates social norms' and that he appeared to have the skills to hold down a normal job.

The senator also questioned why Miss Dias, a former nurse, collects SSI benefits, 'since she is able to provide childcare' to Mr Thornton.

Cared for: Sandra Dias feeds her room-mate and 'baby' with a spoon and a bottle



Comfort: Stanley Thornton sucking from a bottle held by his 'mother', room-mate Sandra Dias, who died in July

Psychological condition: Mr Thornton has worn diapers since he was 13 after he began wetting the bed. Right, he makes baby noises as he plays with a soft toy and his Lego set in his nursery



According to his website, Mr Thornton did have a job as a security guard but had an accident and now claims disability benefit for a heart condition.

He also revealed that he suffers from trauma stemming from childhood abuse and that, combined with other mental problems, has kept him from working and are what led to the paraphilic infantilism .

He said on the programme: 'For some people being an adult baby is a sexual fetish for them, but for most of us it's just, you know, you're doing it to relax, you come home from work, you change into baby mode, you put away your adult stuff and everything goes on hold.'

But Mr Thornton has not worked in a long time and in fact has been receiving payments for about ten years.



In his email to The Times, he claimed that he is simply not capable of working. He said running the website only takes four hours a month, and his craftsman skills were overstated by the programme, which showed him working on his adult-sized high chair.

He said: 'What you saw on camera being drilled was pre-assembled the day before. All I did was drill six holes for the camera.'

Double life: Mr Thornton dresses in adult clothes when he leaves the house to buy materials to build his nursery, skills which Mr Coburn says makes him able to hold down a job



Fantasy world: Mr Thornton explained on camera how he built his own crib then painted it. He now says the film overstated his abilities



