NEW CASTLE, Pa. –– A man who lost a leg to amputation pleaded for help on Facebook last week, saying his caregiver was not only neglecting his needs, but also holding him against his will in his home in western Pennsylvania.

After investigating the post, New Castle police charged James Heffelfinger, 25, with one count each of neglect of care of a dependent person and recklessly endangering another person.

The post said, “Help me, I’m being held against my will … ” The man wrote that he couldn’t move and urged someone to call police, and gave his address, followed by, “Help me,” the police reported. 

Police went to the house, where Heffelfinger told them he lives alone with the man, who is a family member. He said he takes care of the bedridden man through his employer, a local care service, and that the man cannot talk because he had suffered a stroke.

When officers went into the house to check on him, the police smelled a foul odor coming from inside the house, according to a criminal complaint. They described the conditions in the home as “deplorable,” littered with garbage, dirt and a “significant number” of flies, with fly strips completely covered with dead insects.

The man who posted the plea was lying in the dining room on a hospital bed without clothing, covered only by a dirty top sheet, according to the complaint. His left leg had been amputated below the knee and the dressing appeared not to have been changed in days, police said.

Heffelfinger told the police in an interview that his duties were to take care of the man and do his shopping, and that he worked eight hours a day.

The man’s bed was soiled and he was unable to verbally communicate with the officers, they said. When asked if he wanted medical attention, the man gave the officers a thumbs-up, the report said, and he was brought to the hospital by an ambulance.

Hospital personnel reported to the police that the man was covered in feces and urine when he arrived at the hospital, and that he suffered bed sores, his leg wound was infected and he had multiple red spots on his chest.

Watcher writes for the New Castle, Pennsylvania News.