Perry Bitzel, 82, and a resident of Gilman HealthCare, has been subjected to a form of hell on earth ever since last summer, when it was discovered a family member had exploited him and robbed him of his life savings.
His grandson, Shawn Bitzel, made
the discovery and contacted another family member, former Iroquois
County Board member Susan Wynn-Bence, for guidance. It was quickly
learned little could be done to get the money back, and there was little
financial protection.
The suspected family member still
does not face criminal charges in the case. But another avenue toward
justice has been pursued, and considerable progress has been made.
Wynn-Bence, who now works for
Illinois Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti, arranged a meeting with a pair of
local lawmakers, state Rep. Tom Bennett, R-Gibson City, and Sen. Jason
Barickman, R-Bloomington, to explore what could be done to rectify the
matter.
What has evolved from that
initial meeting is Illinois House Bill 1588, more commonly known as
"Perry's Law.'' It would enable families similar to Bitzel's family to
directly proceed in civil court for justice without a criminal charge in
place. Previously, such a charge had to be made before a family could
turn to the civil courts.
The bill only needs the signature
of Gov. Bruce Rauner to become law, and Barickman said he is confident
the governor will sign it. Hopefully, Rauner will follow through, and if
he needs a bit of persuading, consider this piece a nudge, and not only
for the sake of Bitzel.
Studies show senior citizens
throughout the United States lose a combined $3 billion every year to
fraud. That's not enough to erase the massive debt the state of Illinois
faces, but it is a huge amount of money, and indicates there are tens
of thousands of victims out there.
Who exactly are these people? As
Perry Bitzel's grandson, Shawn, said, "They are the ones who put up with
more than we have today. They went through the Great Depression, the
wars, the economy.''
In other words, many are part of
what acclaimed journalist Tom Brokaw described as "the greatest
generation,'' those who grew up during the deprivation of the depression
and went on to fight and win World War II.
They are genuine heroes, a term
you can't use to describe those who take advantage of them in their
twilight years. Other words come to mind to identify these low lifes,
many of which can't be printed in a family newspaper. How about turning
the temperature up to 20,000 degrees when they reach their permanent
residence?
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High praise for 'Perry's Law' and may those who prey on the elderly burn in hell
2 comments:
My condolences on what happened to you, sir, and may those who prey on the elderly burn in hell.
Family theft - the biggest betrayal of all.
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