Newsfeed – Friday, January 10, 2014
The newsfeed includes articles and stories related to abuse of elders and adults with disabilities. Articles related to elders appear in the top half of the newsfeed. Articles related to abuse of adults with disabilities appear towards the bottom. To subscribe to the NCEA listserv, please send an email with your name, occupation, your organization/agency name, city and state, and a statement about your professional interest or expertise in elder abuse to NCEA@UCI.edu. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! An archived collection of previous newsfeeds is available here: http://ncea.posthaven.com/
A calendar of upcoming elder abuse and neglect events and funding opportunities can be found at the bottom of the newsfeed.
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ELDER ABUSE NEWSFEED
NATIONAL, The Press-Enterprise, January 8, 2014
Phone Scam: Criminals posing as IRS agents, authorities say
http://blog.pe.com/news/2014/01/08/san-bernardino-irs-warns-of-scam-calls/
The IRS is warning of a phone scam in which victims, especially seniors and immigrants, are told they owe delinquent taxes and conned into paying criminals. The scammers making the phone calls have been threatening people with arrest, deportation or a suspended driver’s licenses if payments aren’t made over the phone, according to an alert sent by the San Bernardino County Department of Aging and Adult Services.
ARIZONA (Kingman), Daily Miner, January 8, 2014
Kingman caregiver indicted for murder, abuse allegations
http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=797&ArticleID=59486
The most serious indictment the Mohave County Grand Jury handed down Thursday regards Robert John Adkins, the Kingman man who was arrested Dec. 27 and charged in the murder of Michael J. Sudkamp. Adkins, 51, on Christmas Eve called Kingman police officers to the Astor Avenue home the two men shared, saying he found Sudkamp, 53, dead in the bathroom.
CALIFORNIA (Castro Valley), San Jose Mercury News, January 9, 2014
State agency says it ‘fell short’ in protecting Castro Valley care home residents, promises reform
A state elder care agency promised reforms as it acknowledged Wednesday it "fell short of its mission to protect the health and safety of residents of Valley Springs Manor" who were left to fend for themselves in October. The state said Wednesday it is changing and reinforcing some of its policies to ensure residents are not abandoned after a troubled home loses its license. When homes ordered closed, state workers will now have to remain at the home "until relocation is complete."
CALIFORNIA (Los Angeles), UT San Diego, January 6, 2014
Jail for LA woman who bilked senior via personals
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jan/06/jail-for-la-woman-who-bilked-senior-via-personals/
Los Angeles County prosecutors say a woman has pleaded no contest to swindling an 81-year-old widower with dementia after taking out singles ads seeking senior men. A district attorney's statement says 53-year-old Myrta (MUR'tah) Molina entered the plea Monday to one felony count of theft from an elder or dependent adult.
CALIFORNIA (Montebello), Pasadena Star-News, January 3, 2014
Beverly Hospital in Montebello agrees to pay $250,000 in homeless dumping settlement
Beverly Hospital has agreed to pay a $250,000 fine to the city of Los Angeles and adopt new practices in a settlement with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office over an accusation of dumping a homeless patient onto Skid Row in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office filed the lawsuit in December, accusing the hospital of failing to perform a medical screening of a dependent adult with an emergency medical condition, and later not stabilizing the patient and then discharging the person to Skid Row.
CALIFORNIA (Santa Barbara), Santa Barbara Independent, January 3, 2014
Suspect strikes plea deal in elder abuse case
http://www.independent.com/news/2014/jan/03/elder-abuse-plea-deal/
A woman who pleaded guilty Friday to stealing more than $500,000 from an elderly man with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease will be sentenced to three years of felony probation and is ordered to pay full restitution. Rosemary Baugh, 57, was charged with financial elder abuse and perjury, and faces 11 years and eight months in prison if she doesn’t comply with the terms of her plea deal.
CALIFORNIA (Stockton), Fox 40, January 4, 2014
Stockton man arrested on elder abuse charges
http://fox40.com/2014/01/04/stockton-man-arrested-on-elder-abuse-charges/
A 28-year-old Stockton man has been arrested on elder abuse charges after an injured woman showed up at the hospital late Friday night. Stockton Police say they were first alerted to the incident by the hospital that the woman was brought to.
FLORIDA (Reddick), OCALA, January 7, 2014
Deputies arrest Reddick man sought in severe beating of man with dementia
The man wanted in connection with the severe beating of a 66-year-old Reddick man with dementia and schizophrenia has been captured. In December, officials said the man had been watching the victim while his legal guardian went to Tampa.
GEORGIA (Columbus), WTVM, January 4, 2014
Fifth suspect arrested in connection with loving care senior citizen home
Tina Drakeford, 74, has been arrested and is now the fifth person charged in connection with reported abuses at Loving Care Senior Citizen Home. She is charged with Exploitation of Disabled or Elder Adult.
ILLINOIS (Edwardsville), The Republic, January 4, 2014
Southern Illinois woman accused of neglecting her elderly mother, found dead in home
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/fbeabae9f038460aa44443e16a8b822a/IL--Elder-Neglect
A Godfrey woman has been charged with criminal neglect of an elderly person after the woman's mother was found dead in her home on New Year's Day. Madison County Circuit Judge Kyle Napp on Friday ordered Marjorie E. Phillips held in lieu of $250,000 in connection with the living conditions in which the body of 71-year-old Marjorie B. Phillips was found.
ILLINOIS (Elmwood Park), Chicago Sun-Times, January 10, 2014
Elmwood Park cop charged with stealing $20,000 from man with dementia
A west suburban police officer was arrested Friday and charged with forging a $20,000 check from an elderly man with advanced dementia. Elmwood Park Police Officer John Wasilenko, 39, of Norridge, was taken into custody Friday and charged with senior financial exploitation and official misconduct, according to a statement from the Cook County Sheriff’s office.
KANSAS (Wichita), KAKE, January 10, 2014
Kansas lawmakers to introduce elder abuse legislation
Kansas lawmakers returning to Topeka next week plan to take a look at legislation some hope will help protect senior citizens and other vulnerable Kansans from financial crimes. Protecting those vulnerable Kansans is why a group of prosecutors and advocates for the elderly are encouraging lawmakers to tighten state law and increase penalties and prison time for those who commit financial crimes against citizens who are 60 or older.
NEBRASKA (Scottsbluff), Star Herald, January 6, 2014
Scottsbluff woman accused of stealing from 90-year-old mom
A 54-year-old Scottsbluff woman has been accused of stealing tax funds from her 90-year-old mother. Jeanette Ralston is scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon in Scotts Bluff County Court on charges she stole more than $12,000 in cash from her mother’s bank account.
OHIO (Middletown), 9 WCPO, January 10, 2014
Middletown woman claims her elderly mom abused in nursing home
A Middletown woman worries that her elderly mother was abused and neglected at her nursing home. Joyce Lafayette claims her mother has fallen at least six times while in the care of workers at a Middletown nursing home, as well as has gashes to her arm and stiches to her feet.
OKLAHOMA (Oklahoma City), News Channel 4, January 8, 2014
Nursing home advocate calling for resignation or removal of numerous state officials
One of the Oklahoma’s leading advocates for nursing home safety fights for the resignation of seven high ranking state officials. The founder of A Perfect Cause, Wes Bledsoe, believes those seven state officials are not doing their jobs and not protecting nursing home residents.
OREGON (Klamath Falls), Herald and News, January 4, 2014
Elder abuse alleged against Klamath couple
http://www.heraldandnews.com/news/local_news/article_3bad8da8-74ff-11e3-869f-0019bb2963f4.html
A Klamath Falls couple was arrested Thursday for allegedly mistreating and stealing from an elderly relative. According to Sgt. Bob Fenner, Oregon State Police, the couple is suspected of mistreating an elderly relative, though he declined to release details on the case. The investigation was started by the state Department of Human Services.
OREGON (Salem), The Voice, January 6, 2014
Women sentenced up to 15 years for dumping mother’s corpse
http://www.voicenews.com/articles/2014/01/06/news/doc52caeaf3b2e2f123091942.txt
Kelly Rhodes, 49, daughter of Mary Grenia, will serve a three to 15-year sentence after she dumped Grenia's dead body outside a Goodwill Thrift Store in Port Huron last March. Rhodes, of Salem, Oregon, pleaded guilty in November and was sentenced to manslaughter – fourth-degree, vulnerable adult abuse and removing a body without permission of a medical examiner at the Jan. 3 sentencing in St. Clair County Circuit Court.
SOUTH CAROLINA (Laurens County), The State: South Carolina’s Homepage, January 10, 2014
Laurens Co. man charged with adult exploitation
http://www.thestate.com/2014/01/10/3199765/laurens-co-man-charged-with-adult.html
A Laurens County man has been charged with 16 counts of exploitation of a vulnerable adult. According to a release from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office, the 55-year-old man was investigated over more than $16,000.
VERMONT (Brattleboro), Brattleboro Reformer, January 10, 2014
LaClaire sentenced for thefts, but prison time already served
http://www.reformer.com/food/ci_24885878/laclaire-sentenced-thefts-but-prison-time-already-served
A former caretaker at a Brattleboro care home was sentenced to prison time on Friday for stealing thousands of dollars from an elderly resident's credit-card account. Jodi LaClaire, 39, of Bennington, N.H., received a mostly suspended jail sentence in favor of probation. Due to her being charged and later acquitted of murdering the same resident, LaClaire already has served all or most of the two years of mandatory jail time ordered by Judge David Suntag for the thefts.
WASHINGTON (Olympia), The Seattle Times, January 3, 2014
Ex-nursing aide pleads guilty to assault of dementia patient
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2022593896_nursinghomexml.html
A 23-year-old former nursing assistant at Garden Courte Memory Care Community on Lilly Road pleaded guilty Friday to a count of second-degree assault for shoving a soapy washcloth in a 90-year-old dementia patient’s mouth in July. As part of the plea deal, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Megan Winder agreed to recommend that Cameron Malizio be sentenced to a year and a day in prison.
WASHINGTON (Pierce County), The News Tribune, January 5, 2014
Pierce County’s fight against crimes on elderly gets help
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/01/05/2978870/fight-against-crimes-on-elderly.html
Pierce County is boosting efforts to prosecute crimes against the elderly with the expansion of a special Elder Fraud and Abuse team in the county prosecutor’s office. Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said his office will receive an additional $200,000 in the 2014 county budget to focus on crimes involving both financial fraud and physical abuse against older people.
WEST VIRGINIA (Charleston), WV Gazette, January 7, 2014
Three indicted in scams against elderly citizens
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/201401070028
Three people who prosecutors say posed as clergymen or family members to scam older West Virginians have been indicted on federal fraud charges. The scheme involved calling elderly residents and asking for money under false pretenses.
INTERNATIONAL (Ireland), Kent Online, January 10, 2014
Big rise in claims of abuse against vulnerable elderly people in county, figures in Kent and Medway safeguarding vulnerable adults board reveal
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/news/abuse-claims-11168/
Kent has seen another rise in claims of abuse against vulnerable elderly people in their own homes and while in care, a report has shown. The number of new referrals about abuse made to social services staff in Kent and Medway, along with other agencies such as the police and the Care Quality Commission, rose by 420 to 3,176 in 2012-13 - a 15% increase on the previous year.
INTERNATIONAL (United Kingdom), The Telegraph, January 5, 2014
Patients ‘were locked up’ at criticized NHS hospital
Elderly patients and children at one of the country’s largest hospitals have been locked up and restrained against their will, a whistleblower has claimed. John Marchant, the former head of security at Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said staff had routinely forced vulnerable patients to stay in their rooms – or even confined them to their beds - despite them posing no danger to anyone.
INTERNATIONAL (United Kingdom), The Telegraph, January 10, 2014
Frail pensioners and dementia patients mistreated for ‘gratuitous sport’
''Weak'' and ''inadequate'' management led to the mistreatment of elderly dementia sufferers at a nursing home for a "gratuitous sport," a judge has said. In November 2013, Carol Ann Moore, 54, Katie Cairns, 27, and Gemma Pearson, 28, were found guilty by a jury at Preston Crown Court of ill-treatment or neglect of a person who lacks capacity, under the Mental Capacity Act, after a four week trial.
INTERNATIONAL (United Kingdom), Your Local Guardian, January 7, 2014
Nurse sacked after “serious abuse” at Clapham care home
A nurse from a Clapham care home has been sacked after subjecting vulnerable patients to "serious abuse" including pulling a patient's hair and barricading others into a ward. Among the most serious offences were she turned off the call bell on numerous occasions meaning patients' emergencies could not be heard.
ABUSE OF ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES
GEORGIA (Columbus), Ledger-Enquirer, January 3, 2014
Update: police say more charges coming in group care home violations
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2014/01/03/2883042/third-suspect-charged-with-violations.html
Police have arrested a third suspect in violations at the Loving Care Independent Living Center on Alton Street in Columbus. Police and the Georgia Department of Community Health found new homes for 19 disabled adults after a fire ignited in the kitchen on Dec. 4. During a wide ranging investigation with help from federal authorities, police say they found violations in the care of food and medical treatment to patients.
INTERNATIONAL (Ottawa, Canada), Ottawa Citizen, January 6, 2014
Aunt testifies disabled niece related story of sex assault by hospital security guard
An intellectually disabled Ottawa woman testified on Monday she was sexually assaulted by a hospital security guard who afterward gave her four cigarettes and $2 for chocolate milk. The 22-year-old woman who took the stand Monday said she was pressured into giving the security guard oral sex in 2010 at The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus.
RELATED ISSUES
CALIFORNIA (Santa Ana), UT San Diego, January 9, 2014
Fire kills 2 at California home, caretaker saves 2
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jan/09/fire-kills-2-at-calif-home-caretaker-saves-2/
An electrical failure in a personal electronic device appears to have caused a fire, Spokesman Steve Concialdi said, but he declined to say what type of device. Two residents, 48 and 52, died. One was found in her bed, the other discovered on the floor next to a bed.
MINNESOTA (West Duluth), ABC 5 News, January 4, 2014
Duluth woman with dementia still missing
http://kstp.com/article/stories/S3269134.shtml?cat=12196
The family of a 74-year-old Duluth woman who has been missing for almost six months says the months since her disappearance have been cruel. The woman suffers from dementia and went missing from her assisted-living home in West Duluth July 20th.
TENNESSEE (Rockwood), WATE, January 8, 2014
Rockwood police: freezing temps may have caused elderly man’s death
Below freezing temperatures sweeping through our region the last few days could be what caused the death of an elderly man according to officials in Rockwood. The Rockwood Police Department told 6 News Ray Knight, a veteran in his mid-80s, was found frozen to death during a welfare check this week.
TEXAS (Huntsville), KHOU, January 3, 2014
Hunstville police: elderly man with dementia shoots stepson
According to police, an elderly man with dementia mistook his stepson for an intruder and shot him. The incident happened Friday morning in the Elkins Lake subdivision.
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Upcoming Elder Abuse Conferences/Training Events (in chronological order):
· IOM Forum on Global Violence Prevention will host a public workshop on February 26-27, 2014. This workshop will explore a model for thinking about mental health, violence, and prevention with the goal of arriving at a better understanding of the relationships between mental illness and risks of violence perpetration and victimization as well as the mental health consequences of exposure to violence. The workshop will be held at the Keck Center in Washington, DC, and is free and open to the public. However, space is limited. More information found here: http://www.iom.edu/Activities/Global/ViolenceForum/2014-FEB-26.aspx?utm_medium=etmail&utm_source=Institute%20of%20Medicine&utm_campaign=12.18.13+Forum+and+Roundtable+News&utm_content=&utm_term=
· The 7th Annual Forensic Investigations on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Child and Elder Abuse. This conference will be held in the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri from May 14-16th, 2014. For more information click here: https://www.saintlukeshealthsystem.org/events?kw=forensic&location=All&adesc= or contact saintlukesconcierge@saint-lukes.org
· The 3rd World Congress on Adult Guardianship will be convened on May 28-30th , 2014 in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area. It is sponsored by the National Guardianship Network in affiliation with the International Guardianship Network. The theme of the conference is, “Promising Practices to Ensure Excellence in Guardianship Around the World.” Proposals for presentations are due July 31. See http://worldcongressguardianship.org
An archived collection of previous newsfeeds is available here: http://ncea.posthaven.com/
National Center on Elder Abuse
Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse & Neglect
University of California, Irvine
Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology
101 The City Drive South
Orange, CA 92868
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