Crimes Against Elders: Two Stories

You may recall a few days back I posted about my interview with a Chief of Police while waiting for a plane at the Dallas airport.  The chief recently sent me a press release announcing two arrests in cases of crimes against elders. I thought you might find the details interesting, and good examples for your classes (I’ve omitted the names and other identifying information of the individuals involved).

The alleged perpetrator in case one “was … charged with grand theft from a person 65 years of age or older, a second degree felony.”  The allegation in case one is that the alleged perpetrator “exploited her relationship with the … victim by getting him to write her [a number of] … checks totaling more than $34,000.00 …  [This] …  was discovered by the victim’s brother while trying to reconcile the victim’s bank accounts.”  In the second case, the alleged perpetrator, a CNA, was alleged to have stolen from two residents of a long term care facility.  The CNA  “was…charged with two … counts of grand theft  from persons 65 years of age or older…”  One count alleges that the CNA used a resident’s ATM card and in another took cash from a resident’s wallet.

We teach elder abuse, how it is unreported, how hard it is to discover and how many cases are prosecuted. It’s nice to see law enforcement recognizing these crimes.  Of course, the alleged perpetrators are innocent until proven guilty, but if they are convicted we hope the outcomes give the victims restitution and closure.