Reporting of Elder Abuse Incidents Is on the Rise

Ventura County prosecutors have filed more elder-abuse cases in the first half of this year than in all of last year, a trend they attribute to greater community awareness and increased reporting to police and social workers.

The numbers also demonstrate the tough stance law enforcement and social service agencies are taking in addressing one of the nation’s fast-growing yet still underreported crimes.

The district attorney’s office is now stepping up that effort, securing a $137,000 state grant to expand its Senior Crime Prevention Program.

“I think one of the things this says is that Ventura County is showing a commitment to protect our seniors and permit them to live their golden years with safety and security,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Audry Rohn, one of two prosecutors assigned to the office’s elder-abuse team.

“Outreach is a huge part of it,” she said. “If it doesn’t get to law enforcement, it will never get to us.”

State law mandates that crimes against elderly and dependent adults deserve special consideration because the victims, as with child abuse, are typically more vulnerable and less able to protect themselves.

Elder abuse is generally defined as neglect, financial exploitation, sexual, emotional or physical abuse of any person over 65 that results in harm or suffering.

Authorities say it often goes unreported because victims feel ashamed or embarrassed. A 1998 national incidence study estimates that only one in five cases comes to the attention of law enforcement.

Until recently, local police agencies received little to no training on how to detect or investigate those crimes, and Ventura County social workers were unable to field some reports because they were critically understaffed.

But that has changed.

Now, a 2-year-old law requires police training in the detection of elder abuse, and a sweeping Senate bill approved by the state Legislature last year provides funds to hire more county Adult Protective Services workers.

Locally, the funding will allow the agency to increase its staff from just two caseworkers to 12. Hiring is underway.

“When we get full-staffed and start doing a lot of heavy-duty outreach, we expect our referrals to double,” said agency manager Shirley Alloway.

Rohn has already seen a change. In the first six months of 1999, her unit reviewed and filed about 45 elder-abuse cases compared with 40 last year. In 1997, the unit reviewed 25 cases and filed criminal charges in 18.

So far this year, the cases are almost evenly divided between financial scams targeting seniors and domestic violence, often committed by grandchildren or other relatives against elderly family members.

The office has not received reports of abuse at board and care facilities or nursing homes so far this year, although authorities suspect neglect goes on based on nationwide studies.

“We know nationwide, based on the numbers we see, we should be receiving those cases, and we are not,” Rohn said.

Most often, elder abuse reports are initiated by doctors, bankers, neighbors or concerned family members who contact police or Adult Protective Services, she said.

Alloway said her agency received about 900 reports of abuse against seniors and dependent adults last year, up slightly from 830 the year before. Of the 900 cases, 484 were confirmed. About half involved cases of self-neglect.

Of the other half, the most egregious were referred to the district attorney’s office for prosecution. Rohn also received reports directly from police.

That was the situation in one of the most severe cases now pending in Ventura County Superior Court.

A 41-year-old Kern County woman was arrested by Simi Valley police and later charged by prosecutors in January for allegedly trying to inject an overdose of Valium into her step-grandfather’s IV tube at Simi Valley Hospital.

Sindi Del Tour has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and poisoning. Authorities allege she hoped to cash in on an inheritance from the relative. She’s being held on $500,000 bail, and a trial date is set for July 14.

Another pending high-profile case involves physical neglect that Rohn says was so severe the 68-year-old victim nearly died.

In that case, 67-year-old Shirley Starkey of Simi Valley allegedly neglected her husband to the point he was malnourished, dehydrated and suffering from bedsores that exposed bone. The hospital reported the case to police.

Starkey has pleaded not guilty to felony elder abuse. She told police her husband, who suffers from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, was “cantankerous” and didn’t want to go to the hospital.

On the fraud side, prosecutors have charged a Santa Ana man, Irwin Karp, with 27 counts of grand theft for allegedly selling $400 cremation policies to more than 80 Ventura County residents and then pocketing the cash.

Authorities say the money was supposed to be placed in interest-earning trusts, but when family members tried to turn in the policies, they discovered the money was gone. Karp has pleaded not guilty.

Ventura Police Det. Terri Vujea has investigated numerous alleged scams against seniors and says victims are often conned by people promising services, such as home repairs, for cash.

Typically, seniors will pay up front and the suspect will disappear without doing the work. Vujea recommends that residents ask for a business license or call police if they are suspicious.

“There’s a million scams,” Vujea said. “I don’t think you can overeducate people.”

Often, the predator in elder-abuse cases is a relative looking to take advantage of a vulnerable family member.

Rohn said one of the most emotionally devastating cases she has handled this year involved a 90-year-old widow who was scammed out of her life savings--about $212,227--by her grandson’s ex-wife.

The 32-year-old defendant, Donna Mitchell, was an insurance agent who drained the victim’s annuity accounts. She had no prior criminal record, not even a traffic ticket, Rohn said. Now, she is serving four years in state prison.

At her sentencing hearing, victim Gizella Chizma told the judge she felt betrayed. She said she couldn’t understand how a relative could so easily steal the money she’d worked so hard to earn.

“I don’t know where to begin, because I’m so hurt,” Chizma told the judge. “I was almost broke, once upon a time, and I worked for 50 cents. They paid me $15 and I scrubbed clothes when I was her age, and she’s robbing me for that.”

Although the insurance company repaid her money, Chizma’s case illustrates just how devastating elder abuse can be to seniors, Rohn said. In many financial cases, victims have no way to gain back what has been taken from them. Depression and failing health are common.

“They really don’t bounce back,” Rohn said. “They can’t just go out and get another job. Everything they’ve worked and struggled for is gone.”

As a result, prosecutors say they are taking aggressive steps to heighten community awareness in hopes of deterring crimes. That’s where the three-year, $137,000 state grant comes in.

The money, funded through the state Office of Criminal Justice Planning, will be used to enhance the district attorney’s Senior Crime Prevention Program by providing bilingual crime-alert videos at local libraries and bulletins at neighborhood markets and beauty salons.

The funding will also pay for 50 community presentations to senior citizen groups, six training sessions for financial institutions, and a dozen more presentations to senior-service providers.

As proposed, prosecutors will provide $27,500 in matching funds from the district attorney’s budget. The Board of Supervisors unanimously authorized the grant and accepted the funds Tuesday.

Supervisor John Flynn said he hopes it will go a long way toward heightening community awareness. In Ventura County, about one in every 10 residents is 65 or older, and that number is expected to double over the next two decades.

“It is probably an issue that has been with us a long time, but it has only surfaced in the last few years,” Flynn said. “And it happens probably more than anyone wants to admit.”

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Domestic Elder Abuse on the Rise

Reports of physical abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of the nation’s elderly have risen exponentially, with neglect accounting for more than half the cases.

Hotline Numbers

Adult Protective Services 654-3200

Victim Services 654-3622

Senior Outreach Services 652-7820

Senior Fraud Hotline 654-3180

Area Agency on Aging 641-4420

Source: County Elder Abuse Services