ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
77-Year-Old Wheelchair Patient Suffers Physical And Financial Elder Abuse
Allegations Of Abuse By Caregiver
Charges Of Theft, Identity Theft And Reckless Endangerment
Sadly, there are persons hired as in-home caregivers for the elderly who spend their time stealing from their wards instead of caring for them. Incidents of caregiver abuse often involve both physical abuse or neglect and financial elder abuse. Indeed, the physical abuse or neglect can be part of the financial abuse scheme as when a caregiver keeps a senior out of it by excessive medication or uses threats of abuse as a way of extorting money or gifts. Isolation is typically a large part of any abuser’s scheme as well; as long as the senior is cut off from family, friends, and loved ones, physical and financial abuse may be undetected. As soon as an abusive caregiver realizes they can get away with theft and abuse, it only grows. It is a twisted, often fatal nightmare for a defenseless senior. Here at Evans Law Firm, Inc. we fight for seniors who are victimized by any kind of abuse including cases where the abuse is frankly across the board. If you or a senior loved one has been the victim of any kind of elder abuse, including neglect, physical, emotional and financial elder abuse here in Santa Clara County, call us today at (415)441-8669.
Seniors Victimized By Physical And Financial Abuse Simultaneously
One recent case gives a graphic example of seniors suffering multiples forms of abuse at the same time. In the case[1], an elderly woman called 911 for herself and presented at the hospital ER with visible wounds to the tendons and bones in her legs, and had live maggots in the wounds. The emergency room physician told her that her leg might have to be amputated. According to police, the woman’s caregiver was not there when her elder charge called 911, and the victim later told investigators she’d been alone in the house for several days prior to hospitalization. She said she’d lain in bed for several days, soiling herself, before calling 911 in extreme pain. While she was hospitalized, her son and daughter-in-law accessed her bank account to make some transactions on her behalf, and they noticed something other than the victim’s physical condition was amiss. Ultimately, the woman’s son reportedly identified $4,780 in unexplained transactions made in the elderly woman’s bank account. Security video footage allegedly showed the caregiver using the victim’s debit card to withdraw money from an ATM even while the woman client was in the hospital after the caregiver had allegedly abandoned her for days. According to police reports the caregiver was arrested and charged with three Class B felony counts of aggravated identity theft — for alleged fraudulent use of another person’s PIN 10 or more times within 180 days — as well as Class C felony charges of theft, fraudulent use of a credit card and three counts each of non-aggravated identity theft and first-degree criminal mistreatment. She was also charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal mistreatment and recklessly endangering another person.
Pursuing Parties Responsible For Elder Abuse
Whenever you suspect any type of abuse of an older loved one, neighbor, or friend, report suspicions of elder abuse to the police and Adult Protective Services immediately and call qualified elder abuse counsel. Official reporting is important, but victims and families should pursue all civil remedies available to senior victims under California elder abuse law, and the public authorities cannot prosecute those civil claims for you. Such claims might include claims against the agency or nursing home who employed an abusive caregiver, for example. Our lawyers handle elder abuse cases of all varieties and know the remedies and extra damages to which you or your victimized loved one is entitled. Our lawyers also understand that multiple parties may share in responsibility for any abuse. But with respect to all claims against all accountable parties, there are relatively short statutes of limitations so you need to act immediately when you think anything may be wrong. In addition to all legal and equitable remedies, California courts also award attorneys’ fees to victimized seniors in certain cases and this can ease the burden of bringing a suit.
Contact Us
Ingrid M. Evans and the other Santa Clara County elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. represent seniors and their families against any persons or businesses responsible for the abuse. Ingrid and our other elder abuse attorneys can be reached at (415) 441-8669, or by email at info@evanslaw.com.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in any way.
