South Carolina Mom Charged With Concealing 555-Pound Son

GREENVILLE, S.C. — A mother accused of neglecting her 555-pound son's health has been brought back to South Carolina after she was arrested in Maryland.

Greenville County deputies said 49-year-old Jerri Gray waived an extradition hearing and arrived in Greenville on Wednesday afternoon.

Investigators said they were going to talk to Gray before her arraignment.

Gray was arrested on a charge of violating a custody order last month when she did not appear in court for a hearing with the Department of Social Services, authorities said.

Police found Gray and her 14-year-old son at a laundry in the Baltimore suburb of Woodlawn.

It wasn't immediately clear if Gray had an attorney.

The teen has been placed in protective custody.

14 years and 555 lb's? He may have been neglected, but he certainly wasn't starved. I hope this kid while in protective custody get some exercise and a healthy diet. However taking a kid away from his parent sometimes does more harm than good.

When I first saw the headline I thought...."concealing a 555lb kid" the mother must be David Blaine.

[edit on 5-6-2009 by whaaa]

Maybe the was an entrepreneur and just fattening him up for slaughter?

I'm sure if there is a market for such a thing the price per pound is astronomical.

reply to post by whaaa


That's sick. Your screen name pretty much defined my reaction. How can a mom do that to her kid? HOW did she do that to him? There's only so much a person can eat!

When I first saw the headline I thought...."concealing a 555lb kid" the mother must be David Blaine.

While that's pretty mean, I gotta say that that was pretty funny.

I do think parents that allow their kids to blow up to these proportions should be prosecuted. I don't care what the income, education or social strata this is pure abuse, not neglect!

I have a daughter that has always struggled with her weight, when she was living with me as much as it caused problems I managed carefully her diet and offered her healthy food. Of course as she got older I was unable to monitor everything but did keep her weight under control. Now she is an adult and I still am on her case about her diet. Having lost over 100 pounds I know that it can be done and it really isn't that hard to loose weight and manage it.

How the bleeping hell can a 14 year old kid weigh 555 pounds??????

The average 14 year old probably isent more then 100 at most and this kid weighs FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY FIVE pounds? Insane, I am at a loss for words


Kailassa, I agree this kid definitely has some sort of genetic or metabolic disorder. He really needs to be under proper medical care and have responsible parents.

[edit on 5-6-2009 by ChrisF231]

It's probable the poor kid has a genetic syndrome, Prader Willi

Prader-Willi syndrome

Affected individuals are prone to obesity.

At birth, the child has poor sucking ability and may not grow at the expected rate. However, this changes remarkably by the time the child is one to four years of age. Prader-Willi syndrome is associated with an insatiable appetite, so that the child will eat virtually everything, and may be so obsessed by food they will go to any lengths to get it. Coupled with the unusually slow metabolism characteristic of the syndrome, this means that the child is prone to obesity. The hypothalamus is the brain structure responsible for regulation of appetite. It is thought that the hypothalamus in a child with Prader-Willi syndrome is dysfunctional. This is a lifelong problem.

I've known parents with Prader-Willi kids who have not only had to padlock the fridge, they've had to padlock away paints and chemicals too. Their kids would even eat poopy kitty litter if they were given the chance. It's not the kids fault. They suffer from an imperative to eat, and the slight retardation that generally accompanies this inhibits their self control.

A kid like this need two mature parents and help from the community, so the house can be made safe and the child can always be supervised by someone with backbone.

I guess it's safe to say the parents weren't feeding the kid a sole diet of subway subs?