Elder abuse has just taken a significant notch up in terms of despicable behavior. Imagine an ill senior returning home to nothing, not even a chair on which to sit.
Just when you’d hope that a sense of community was finally beginning to prevail in these tough, ‘we should pull together’ economic times, something happens that makes one regret they’re a member of the human race. “Witness a case we heard about in Savannah, Georgia, of a 76-year-old senior who came home from the hospital after six weeks and found literally nothing in her house; not even a fridge,” outlined Deborah Barron, of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.
In addition to no fridge, there was no furniture and all of her belongings had vanished. Every stick of furniture and stitch of clothing and other goods were gone. Only the bare walls remained along with one lonely mattress on the floor in the bedroom. If the woman could have called the police, she would have. However, the culprits also took her phone. This is a totally ugly twist on elder abuse that no one should ever have to be subjected to at any time.
“Unfortunately, the victim is fairly certain that a family member did this to her, and she is in shock that they would be so vicious and thoughtless. Sadly, elder abuse is perpetrated quite often by family members and not always strangers,” added Barron. This makes it even harder to bear when the victim realizes that their own family thinks so little of their health and welfare that they would leave an elderly person in dire straits with no way to contact anyone for help.
Thanks to the kindness of a neighbor, the police were called and came to get to the bottom of this horrendous affair. The senior’s sister from another county showed up in response to a phone call from the police, and took her sister to her own home, in total shock at what they found when they arrived. The neighbors up and down the street rallied around when they heard the full extent of the problem, none too impressed with the fact that someone in the senior’s family would leave her in such a desperate situation after just being released from hospital.
“The local police labeled this affair as one of the worst cases of elder abuse they had ever seen. Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to senior abuse. This just happens to be a new twist in the saga of people harming the elderly for largely unfathomable reasons; people who are family, which makes this even more reprehensible,” Barron commented. This isn’t about missing furniture; it is also about identity theft. This particular woman no longer has an ID, and her ATM card is also gone.
Since the lady is unable to prove who she is, she is also unable to have all her prescriptions filled and has no money because she no longer has access to it. “To say this situation is a disaster would be an understatement. This type of thing that’s happening to elderly individuals is appalling; and yet it is only just a small sampling of the other shocking things done to our seniors,” added Barron.
If elder abuse is suspected or discovered within a family, has happened to a neighbor or friend, make that phone call to the police and to a skilled Sacramento personal injury lawyer. This kind of behavior is not acceptable and never will be. Preying on the vulnerable elderly is one of the worst crimes on record. Stop it in its tracks.
Deborah Barron is a Sacramento business lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer, and Sacramento winery lawyer in California. To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.
