A New York man held an 81-year-old veteran hostage for at least four years in order to collect his benefits, police said Thursday, weeks after the US House of Representatives passed legislation to call attention to financial elder abuse.
Perry Coniglio, 43, is accused of holding an elderly veteran with dementia at the U.S. Academy Motel in Highlands, New York, near West Point, in a room adjoining his own. The motel is located next to a police station, according to the Associated Press.
Mr. Coniglio was able to collect a "tremendous" amount of monthly funds through Social Security benefits, pension payments, and food stamps, police said, without specifying the amount.
Police were recently tipped off to the situation by concerned neighbors, one of whom had captured the former Marine being abused on video.
Coniglio is being held on $15,000 bail and is being charged with grand larceny and unlawful imprisonment, among other charges.
Elder abuse has become a particularly pressing issue as the population ages, as The Christian Science Monitor reported last month. In the vast majority of cases, the abuser is a family member.
A
study from the British Geriatrics Society released in June found that
more than a third of caregivers engage is potentially abusive behavior.
Often, the abuse occurs when demands on carers become too much for them
to be able to meet.
"Findings highlight the need for support and
training for carers, so that they can care with confidence, have the
skills to manage difficult caregiving situations and recognise when the
pressures associated with caregiving may be harming the older person and
know at which point they should seek help," the researchers wrote.
"Community-based professionals such as public health nurses, GPs, social
workers and home care staff need the skills to recognise behaviours
that may act as early warnings."
The researchers said the data shows that family caregivers need more support to fulfill their duties.
One
in 5 Americans will be in the "older" demographic by 2030, according to
the US Census Bureau. Five million elderly adults are abused each year,
according the National Center on Elder Abuse, 90 percent abused by
family members.
Fighting elder abuse has become more of a priority on both the state and federal level in recent months.
The House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation that would protect financial advisers who try to fight the financial exploitation of the elderly, as Investment News reported.
The
legislation gives financial advisers the ability to report abuse
without fear of being prosecuted for violation of privacy laws. It also
discusses training on how to identify financial abuse of the elderly.
"While
Washington has been gridlocked for a long time, I'm very pleased that
the House was able to pass this critical legislation, and I am hopeful
the Senate will quickly follow suit," Dale Brown, the president and
chief executive of the Financial Services Institute, said in a
statement. "The Senior Safe Act is a big step forward in the prevention
of elder financial abuse across the country."
The Senate could vote on a similar legislation this year.
One the state level, laws went into effect
July 1 in Alabama, Indiana, and Vermont that require financial advisers
to alert the state if they suspect elder financial abuse.
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81-year old man held hostage for years in elder financial abuse case
1 comment:
I hope the next story you report on this scum is that he's in jail for the rest of his miserable life.
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