Caretakers have an incredibly hard job taking care of the elderly on a daily basis. Often trusting a stranger feels too risky so someone close to the patient volunteers to take the role of caretaker. Even though most people want to believe that their loved ones wouldn’t take advantage of an elderly person’s vulnerable state, it happens every day. Elder abuse lawyers see situations all of the time where someone sees an opportunity to make some easy money from their elderly relative who in their mind doesn’t need the money anymore. No matter what the situation, this is still theft and elder abuse and should never be tolerated.
Granddaughter Gets Arrested for Exploiting and Stealing from Elderly Relative
52-year-old Lynda S. Hutcheson is being accused of stealing almost $12,000 from her 100-year-old grandmother’s bank accounts in just a few months. She is being charged with grand theft, 39 counts of criminal use of personal identification and exploitation of the elderly. Hutcheson moved in with her mother and grandmother in April and started stealing from her within weeks. After a July 20 incident at Score Credit Union bank where she withdrew funds without authorization, an investigation looked into Hutcheson. They discovered that Hutcheson would drive the victim on daily errands to pick things up for her and used her grandmother’s credit cards. She would also get a large amount of money out of the bank, buy small items for her grandmother and then save the rest of the money for herself. The bank contacted the victim’s family when the account was overdrawn and the situation became so bad that the missing money was originally reported by Hutcheson’s mother.
Elder Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Philadelphia
If your loved one is currently being taken advantage of financially or physically, or they are a resident of a nursing home and you are worried that the care they are receiving is negligent, abusive, or inadequate, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. You may also call for a free consultation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
The Regency Heights of Danielson nursing home facility in Connecticut is facing a $3,000 fine after multiple cases of
Unfortunately, even though she was away from her abusers and getting the medical attention that she needed, Jacox died at the Tucson Medical Center on November 8, 2011. Authorities are now saying that the couple also cleared the woman’s bank accounts and credit cards. But Peralta is saying that the stories about what happened to Jacox are not true. He says that both Hughes and himself loved Jacox as if she was family and did not abuse or neglect her. He said he cannot speak for the 12 to 15 hours a day he spent at work and cannot comment on her diet, but he used to make her egg sandwiches in the morning until she told him that she preferred that Hughes care for her. He did notice the weight loss but assumed that it was a result of the multiple sclerosis. He says that he was the one that saw the sores on her back and made the decision to go to the hospital. “I seen the wound and I said ‘Get the wheelchair. We’re going to take her in (to the hospital) right now,” Peralta said. He then wheeled Jacox to the car and Hughes drove her to the hospital while he stayed home with Hughes’ kids. He also said that they never stole from Jacox, she would give him $40 or $60 for gas money occasionally but he says he always paid her back. He also claims that Hughes would give him Jacox’s ATM card and tell him to withdraw money, but that they were given permission and he always gave the card back. “It was nothing damaging like they’re trying to say…Ruthann was my best friend. I took care of her as much as I could,” Peralta said.
Denise D’Sant- Angelo, 56, was sentenced to 11 years in California state prison after stealing thousands of dollars from the elderly. On June 8, 2010 she was found guilty of
A 70 year old woman who was a resident of the University Place Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Charlotte, North Carolina was rushed to the Carolinas Medical Center University on the morning of Sunday, August 29, 2011 with a big bruise on her face and a broken pelvis. When the family asked the nursing home what caused the injuries, they told her that the elderly woman had fallen, but emergency room staff at the hospital said that the
Baker’s 63-year-old daughter, Sherry Lynn Mundy, has been convicted of severe neglect and sentenced to three years in prison. Judge Kathleen Beckstead suspended all but a year and a day of the Mundy’s sentence, which she will serve in state prison. According to prosecutor Joel Todd, “The fact that she imposed Division of Corrections time as opposed to local time should be a big deterrent to anyone else who might be thinking about a neglecting a vulnerable adult.” Mundy is also required to serve three years of supervised probation and is banned from being a caregiver for a vulnerable adult or anyone older than 65 years old.
According to the facility records, the employee who witnessed the fight wrote that the staff gave West
On November 19, 2010, Nancy Byrd Lewis, 59, called 911 to report that her 79-year-old mother, Hazel Tolbert Byrd, was unresponsive. When the paramedics arrived at the house where the two women lived, they found Byrd lying in bed covered in several days worth of feces, urine, and maggots from her waist to her feet. The State Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy and determined that Byrd had been dead for at least a week before the 911 call was made. The autopsy also said that she was filthy, had matted hair and several skin ulcers. This led to an investigation where officials found that in 2005 Byrd suffered a stroke and moved in with Lewis, who took the role of her mother’s caretaker. The elderly woman also suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes, but did not take any of her medications nor had she visited a doctor since being released from the hospital.
Last month, our
A very popular scam in recent years has been to call elderly adults pretending to be a grandchild, asking for money to be wired due to some emergency. This Grandparent Scam has cost people thousands of dollars all over the country. The scam has been around for several years, but it has gotten more elaborate lately. Originally, scammers would call and slowly get details from the victim through the conversation. Now-a-days, the caller will already know detailed information before they make the call. They will immediately identify themselves as a grandchild by name and give other details about their lives in order to increase credibility. Officials are warning everyone, especially the elderly, to never send money to family members or loved ones unless you can be certain you are sending it to the right person. It is easy for predators to access personal information so you must ask more than just basic information.