Guardian Corruption Finances Voter Fraud in the United States

This article exposes using embezzled funds from senior guardianship accounts as a primary financial tool to commit voter fraud. This is a national problem having several players including the American Bar Association, social workers, cooperative physicians, court systems, and attorneys who make a nice living by financing voter fraud.

The example I’ll use for this article, is based upon numerous documents of obtained evidence from Clark County, Nevada. I will expose how the money flows from law firms, trust accounts and unaccounted for property sales is used to force undocumented citizens to commit voter fraud. I will reveal the story of one undocumented citizen who uses the name Hector, who was recruited by a Clark County official to commit voter fraud. I will explain why Nevada is hiding this corruption.

Nevada makes money by protecting private guardians who have bragged about stealing hundreds of millions from unsuspecting families. Unfortunately, Clark County, along with the state of Nevada, is convicting citizens who never registered as professional guardians. These citizens are being convicted of elder exploitation to hide this corruption. The beneficiaries of this corrupt system are politically connected individuals. The facts will shock you.

I’m a retired Clark County, Nevada clerk who witnessed guardian abuse on a major scale. I observed how stolen funds were used to commit voter fraud in Las Vegas, Nevada. I have personally witnessed the establishment of fraudulent guardianships. Fraudulent guardianships are encouraged by the Clark County court system because the money from guardian confiscated accounts finances voter fraud.

Paying people to commit the crime of voter fraud requires large amounts of underground funding. My observations will expose the truth behind private guardian corruption and how the state Attorney General and Las Vegas District Attorney are protecting the true embezzlers.

Due to a serious illness, I’ve decided to share what I know about the private guardian for hire system, which has never been discussed in the news media.

Guardian Fraud Begins With a System That Tolerates Lack of Accounting
In order to finance an off the books operation, a source of undocumented money is needed. Missing funds in estate accounts controlled by private for hire guardians is the perfect source of capital for a voter fraud campaign. The missing money is either ignored by the court system or passed over as normal procedure by commissioners and judges charged with overseeing these accounts. A former Clark County hearing master said senior citizens losing money was simply a process of growing old.

Hearing Master, Jon Norheim, was the Guardianship Commissioner who made this statement. I was in Jon Norheim’s court when this statement was made on November 3, 2006 to a shocked audience of attorneys and families. In countless guardianship cases, embezzled funds were never found. Jon Norheim and his boss, Judge Charles Hoskin, have been banned from hearing adult guardianship cases. Sadly, Commissioner Norheim is being allowed to oversee juvenile guardianship cases. The banning’s occurred because Commissioner Norheim and Judge Hoskin became quite controversial and over exposed as a result of victim family complaints. Please review the links in this article to substantiate this statement. The cause for the system’s tolerance for missing money results because these funds are needed to operate a powerful organization which commits voter fraud. I witnessed undocumented individuals being recruited for this practice.

How the Voter Fraud Organization Operates
Votes can be purchased by local politicians who need to win a close election. One private Nevada guardian actually owns the largest election billboard sign company in Las Vegas. His name will be mentioned later along with substantiating links to back up my statements. The organization will force undocumented citizens to vote for a particular candidate or ballot proposition. If the undocumented citizen refuses, deportation will be the final consequence. Union officials and political Party operatives apply pressure on these undocumented citizens to ensure they vote in the ballot box on Election Day. Several unions and corrupt officials supply the voter fraud organization with a list of undocumented workers living in Las Vegas who are likely candidates for committing voter fraud. The undocumented citizens appear on the RADAR because they committed some crime. These crimes include unpaid parking tickets, driving without a license and driving under the influence. The fact major political parties are opposed to voters providing identification during an election is further proof such a system exists. If voters had to provide identification during the act of voting, it would be difficult for undocumented citizens to commit voter fraud.

One undocumented citizen named Hector was convicted of three counts of driving under the influence. Hector claimed that a deputy DA working in the Las Vegas District Attorney’s office had his record wiped clean because he could get ten other undocumented citizens to vote in the 2016 election for certain candidates and propositions. Hector worked hard to perform this task because three convictions meant permanent loss of his driver’s license. Hector alleges his record was sanitized by the DA’s office. Another interesting fact concerns Clark County’s former public guardian, Jared E. Shafer. Mr. Shafer owned and operated the largest election billboard sign company in Las Vegas, which is known as Signs of Nevada. Mr. Shafer served as public guardian in Clark County from 1979 through 2003. Shafer’s connection with Clark County departments granted this private for hire guardian special access to undocumented citizens who were vulnerable for recruitment for voter fraud. Many Las Vegas and Clark County officials obtained votes along with special sign pricing from Jared Shafer’s company, which is known to locals as Signs of Nevada. In return for legal and political favors cooperative officials received free signage from Mr. Shafer to finance their election campaign. Articles about Shafer’s signs are found online. I will discuss at a later point in this article how the votes of undocumented citizens influenced elections in Nevada.

Court Activity in Voter Fraud
Courts ignored corrupt guardian activity until 2013. Cracks in this voter fraud system first appeared with the arrest and conviction of Patience M. Bristol. I personally worked on this case. Bristol removed over $2 million from the court designated ward accounts she was charged with protecting.

The District Attorney charged Bristol with 20 counts of exploitation. The system allowed Ms. Bristol to plead guilty to only one count of elder exploitation. The DA had videos of Patience Bristol pawning stolen jewelry, which the system chose to ignore. Unfortunately, at Bristol’s sentencing, four victims appeared before the court to testify. Bristol was quoted as saying “I didn’t pay enough to the right people.” The voter fraud system resulted in Bristol’s crimes being swept under the carpet. The bulk of the missing money went toward recruiting and controlling the votes of undocumented citizens. The reference links in this article will provide additional details. Major political parties in Nevada received the bulk of senior citizen missing funds, which were used for the voter fraud campaign. These funds went to boost the vote count for local politicians running for office in Clark County, Nevada. I was present when Patience Bristol’s former boss and private guardian, Jared E. Shafer, said, “Bristol knew the right people to pay. She didn’t give enough.”

Full Article & Source:
Guardian Corruption Finances Voter Fraud in the United States

Flemington women indicted for forgery, impersonating a lawyer

Jessica L. Andrews, 29, of Flemington, was indicted on Thursday, April 20, by a Hunterdon County grand jury on charges of forgery, uttering a forged document and unauthorized practice of law, according to Hunterdon County Prosecutor Anthony P. Kearns III.

Andrews signed and sent correspondence to a Flemington resident on Jan. 25, posing as an attorney and demanding a monetary payment from the victim, Kearns said. The Flemington Borough Police Department and the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office Investigation led to the identification and arrest of Andrews.

Full Article & Source:
Flemington women indicted for forgery, impersonating a lawyer

Elder Law Expo answers common seniors-related questions

Will we have to sell the house to qualify for Medicaid? Can she get her late husband's Veterans Affairs benefits? How can we financially prepare for the inevitable future?

These are just some of many questions attorneys at Heritage Law Group answer regularly.

"I want to help elderly citizens who need assistance, and their families and caregivers don't know all the resources available," said attorney Jake Mason.

The confusion is one reason the office is inviting the community — from senior citizens to caregivers, adults with older parents, even healthcare students — to its Elder Law Expo and Workshop.

►REGISTER HERE

A free event, the community can hear workshops on legal and health issues seniors often face, plus get information from area vendors serving senior citizens, and even grab a free boxed lunch.

It will be especially beneficial for the "sandwich generation," or adults caring for both their parents and their children.

"They can see there's other people going through the exact same thing," Mason said.

​Mason said the biggest legal hurdles regarding senior citizens are: 

• navigating Medicaid
• knowing about and receiving VA benefits
• adult children obtaining power of attorney or a conservatorship to manage funds of the elderly parents suffering from severe dementia and Alzheimer's

Jake Mason, an attorney
at Heritage Law Group,
will speak

"The problem is it might be too late to get power of attorney when they're not on their bank accounts," he said.

Often, it means the adult children must get a conservatorship, a costly and lengthy process.
"You're basically taking away a U.S. citizen's rights."

Seniors are also more vulnerable to elder abuse, primarily fraud. In 2016, 1,178 persons 65 and older were victims of fraud under false pretenses in Sumner County. Another 465 were victims of fraud via impersonation.

►Related: Tennessee lawmakers announce legislation to combat elderly abuse

Elder;law has some overlap with elderly abuse, although often those cases are handled by criminal defense attorneys.

Anyone who suspects abuse or neglect is legally obligated to report it to Adult Protective Services at 1-888-277-8366.

The expo coincides withNational Elder Law Month and Older Americans Month. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 15 percent of Sumner County's population was 65 or older.

Mason often speaks at senior citizen centers in Sumner County about Medicaid and VA benefits. The office saw a huge need for the expo after the influx of referrals from assisted living and other senior-related facilities.

He and Jenna Hunter, director of business development at Heritage Law Group, saw the variety of resources available for seniors, yet citizens were still unaware of where to turn.

"They can relate to vendors (at the expo) and learn what's in their community and all over Middle Tennessee," she said. "It's not big corporations; it's local companies for the most part."

Workshop presentations include:

• "What On Earth Is Elder Law?" by Jake Mason, attorney at Heritage Law Group
• "Dementia, Aging & Memory Loss" by Dr. Megan E. Mason, neurologist at Sumner Medical Group/Saint Thomas Medical Partners
• "Physiological Changes in Older Adults and the Role of Exercise/Physical Activity in the Prevention of Falls and Physical Decline" by Todd Jenkins, exercise physiologist at Tristar Centennial Parthenon Pavilion
• "Healthcare and the Law" by Deborah R. Farringer, assistant professor of law at Belmont University College of Law

If you go

What:Heritage Law Group presents a free Elder Law Expo & Workshopat Volunteer State Community College. Family caregivers, healthcare professional, seniors and students of law and healthcare can attend a variety of workshops on health and law targeting seniors, health screenings, prizes, senior-related vendors and complimentary lunch.

When: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. May 11

Where: Volunteer State Community College, 1480 Nashville Pike

Register: www.HeritageLawTN.com

Full Article & Source:
Elder Law Expo answers common seniors-related questions

He Just Wants to Go Home

Roy Kotval just wants to go home.

But the 87-year-old Beloit man is a resident at Sanford Sheldon Senior Care, kept in a locked ward and, he said, being held against his will.

His friends, Jay Driesen of In­­wood and Ray Ehrman of Freeman, SD, agree and are willing to take care of him on a limited basis. They think Kotval is able to take care of himself with supervision at a duplex owned by Ehrman in Freeman.

“If I can’t go home, then I could go there,” Kotval said. “There is no valid reason for me to go there, but it is better than here.”

Still, there are questions. Kotval’s home is packed high with debris and residue, and there are concerns about his health if he returns there.

Kotval also said he relies on the as­­sistance of an extraterrestrial named Commander Ashtar who cured him of an injury following a vehicular crash. He was hospitalized earlier for an injury to a heel that was infected.

Is he capable of making valid choices for himself?
District Judge Carl Petersen is one of two judges who presided over the legal proceedings — three have been held — and ruled that while Driesen and Ehrman should be commended for wanting to help Kotval, he is in need of round-the-clock care and is determined

to be a flight risk from the nursing home. On April 12, the judge appointed Tyler Eason, director of the Office of Substitute Decision-Making, as the guardian of Kotval.

Kotval is not happy with the ruling, writing on a copy of the court document that many of the statements about him were falsehoods and lies.

“I was supposed to go home,” he said. “They put me in this place without my permission. They trumped up a pack of lies and put me in here. It is unorthodox and unauthorized.”

Kotval said he spends much of his time stewing over the fact that he cannot leave. He said he is “locked up like a criminal. This ain’t a normal life, being locked up like in a jail cell.”

Driesen is preparing another court document because he said Judge Petersen wrote a narrative rather than use the law to back his ruling and claims Petersen did not address many of the issues he and Ehrman brought up in court — mainly the issue as to whether or not Kotval was denied due process in the beginning.

If he was, Driesen said that means Kotval’s constitutional rights were violated and he should be free to go.

Full Article and Source:

He Just Wants to Go Home

See Also:

NASGA Roy Kotval, Iowa Victim

ISOLATE, MEDICATE, LIQUIDATE: How to Fleece a Senior PART 2 – UPDATE NOTES

Warning to Seniors: Rich or Poor, You’re Worth a LOT to Lawyers, Courts, and Service Agencies!

by Lonnie Brennan

In our prior edition, we briefly outlined how retired Boxford attorney Marvin Siegel had established a plethora of detailed estate planning documentation with the intention of protecting his approximately $9 million estate from predators, interlopers and other nasties.

Mr. Siegel failed.

He specifically failed to consider one important fact: At any time, a gaggle of lawyers, with the aid of friendly Massachusetts judges, can almost seamlessly have an elderly gentleman declared a ward of the state, and swoop in and begin to draw off his assets.

We’ve collected quite a lot of documents since last month, with details on just some of the billings of Attorneys Brian Cuffe, Marsha Kazarosian, James Feld, and others. Billings of sometimes in excess of $200,000 per year, and collectively resulting in the draining of millions from the estate.

The beef: two of Mr. Siegel’s daughters – one a lawyer – were named by Mr. Siegel to take over the custody of his estate in the event of illness, but instead, were cast aside by the courts, and others were given full control.

To the right, a few of the photographs printed here show the drilling of Mr. Siegel’s safety deposit box, Attorney Feld counting the content’s money, Feld and Kazarosian taking a break at approximately one-third of the way going through the cash and contents, then the pair packing things up after more than 4 hours and 30 minutes of documenting the valuables.

But this opening of the box and cataloguing of the contents was just one of many measures allowed by the courts to place the assets of Mr. Siegel in the control of court-appointed guardians for Mr. Siegel.

At press time, a further appeal by Mr. Siegel’s daughters on the draining of their father’s accounts by court-appointed lawyers and others, was denied.

Most interesting, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly announced an award for Kazarosian, complete with a video of her, alongside an article terming the daughter’s appeals too confusing and wordy to comprehend.

The despicable actions inflicted on Mr. Siegel were not just directed to draining his lifetime of accumulated wealth. In an upcoming issue we’ll provide extensive details of how the state-appointees even terminated Mr. Siegel’s regular doctors and caregivers … stay tuned.  ¨

Full Article & Source:
ISOLATE, MEDICATE, LIQUIDATE: How to Fleece a Senior PART 2 – UPDATE NOTES

See Also:
ISOLATE, MEDICATE, LIQUIDATE: How to Fleece a Senior

AG suspends Macomb probate public administrator, leaders want law changed

(WXYZ) - 7 Investigator Heather Catallo first exposed a troubling pattern of certain public officials and real estate brokers taking over estates, often leaving rightful heirs with very little. Now, some top Oakland County leaders are taking bold steps to stop this practice.

The 7 Investigators also have a major update to our first probate court investigation that focused on Macomb County Public Administrator Cecil St Pierre.

After Catallo’s first story aired, the Michigan Attorney General’s office started their own investigation into St. Pierre, and confirm that several people filed complaints against the lawyer.

Now the Attorney General has suspended Cecil St. Pierre indefinitely from his Public Administrator duties.

St. Pierre says he “made a business decision not to do Probate Asset Recovery files prior to the suspension.  I have followed Best Practices and everything I have done has been approved by the Probate Judge and court.  I have been informed about the suspension.”

St. Pierre also told us in an e-mail that he “will investigate the issue with the Attorney General’s office and hopefully resolve any issue or complaints.”

“How can they lay their head down on their pillow at night, hurting people like that,” said Joanne Zaremba.

She’s one of several rightful heirs who say they were blindsided when someone else opened a probate estate in a deceased relatives name.  That meant Joanne could have lost her late mother’s home to a stranger. And she’s not alone.

“We were summoned to court – someone opened a probate estate in his name,” Kristin Rekowski told Catallo in November 2016.

Here’s what’s going on: Real Estate Broker Ralph Roberts has teamed up with some Attorney General-appointed lawyers called Public Administrators.  In Oakland County, court records show he regularly works with Kemp Klein attorney Barbara Andruccioli to open probate estates.  (Click to Continue)

Full Article & Source:
AG suspends Macomb probate public administrator, leaders want law changed

See Also:
Are Probate Court Claims Being Used to Take Homes From Rightful Heirs?

Families Say Local Realtors, Attorneys Cashing in on Estates of Their Recently Passed Loves Ones

Tips You Need to Know to Take a Loved Ones Estate Through Probate

Lawyer Who Looted Slave Theater Owner's Estate Gets Prison Time: DA

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — A disgraced Queens lawyer will spend at least a year in state prison for looting the estate of the late Judge John Phillips, a former civil judge and owner of the famed Slave Theater, according to prosecutors.

Frank Racano, of Howard Beach, was sentenced to between one and three years in state prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to siphoning more than half a million dollars from the sale of Phillips’ now-shuttered historic theater at 1215 Fulton St., which hosted civil rights leaders including Al Sharpton as well as performances in the 1980s and 1990s., according to acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.

Racano, 54, who was hired in 2010 to assist in the sale of Phillips’ properties, wrote and cashed more than 300 checks totaling $587,160.56, utterly depleting the account into which the proceeds were deposited, Gonzalez said. The theater had been locked in a legal battle between Phillips' former partner, Clarence Hardy Jr. and his nephew by marriage, Samuel Boykin, who successfully petitioned for control of his assets after his death.

The theater was sold for $18.5 million in 2015 and was demolished last month, reportedly to make way for apartments.

“This defendant disregarded his duty to his client, stealing nearly all of the proceeds due to the estate of the beloved Hon. Judge Phillips, including from the sale of the historic Slave Theater. He’s now been held accountable for his brazen theft and shameful conduct.”

In 2012, a buyer contracted to buy the theater and an adjacent lot for a total of $2.2 million, and paid the late judge’s estate a down payment of $220,000, payable to “Frank Racano, as attorney,” according to prosecutors. After a judge OK'd the sale, the buyer paid the net proceeds of the sale, $517,339.65, to Racano in two checks, Gonzalez said.

Between February 2013 and May 2015, Racano proceeded to pay himself the remainder of the cash in amounts ranging from $45 to $7,500 without authorization, prosecutors said. He was indicted in May, 2016 for grand larceny and pleaded guilty in January.

Phillips, who was known as the “Kung-Fu Judge,” was elected as a civil judge without the support of the Brooklyn political machine, and eventually found himself in the crosshairs of longtime District Attorney Charles Hynes, who had Phillips declared mentally incompetent and his assets placed in state receivership after Phillips announced a bid to unseat Hynes in 2001, friends and family said.

He died childless, unmarried, and without a will in 2008 at the troubled Prospect Park Residence, an assisted-living facility in Park Slope that has been the subject of extensive litigation and that a lawsuit brought by Phillips’ cousin blamed for the judge’s death.

John O’Hara, a close friend and fellow political outsider in Brooklyn, described the facility as a “Confederate prison.”

Boykin was not immediately available for comment.

Full Article & Source:
Lawyer Who Looted Slave Theater Owner's Estate Gets Prison Time: DA

How Do Cook County Judges Stack Up?

Two high-profile stories recently caught the eye of many Cook County residents. In one case, a judge was accused by federal prosecutors of mortgage fraud. The other involved a judge resigning after refusing his assignment to traffic court.

Even for those unfamiliar with the ins and outs of the court system, both stories raise questions about a judge's ethical responsibilities and about the quality of the county judiciary.

“Judges have a code of professional conduct they are obligated to uphold, and one essential tenet of the code is do not engage in any conduct that compromises the prestige and integrity of the judicial office,” said Samuel Jones, professor at John Marshall Law School. “They cannot engage in conduct to compromise impartiality or gives the public the appearance they are biased. They also have an obligation to maintain certain competencies. One thing about Judge Cooke is that traffic court is often used as a training ground for new judges, where the chief judge and presiding judges are able to gauge their temperament to handle more intricate cases.”

So how do Cook County judges stack up?

“As a presiding judge, the majority I saw were good judges,” said retired Cook County Judge Edmund Ponce de Leon. “But there are some that feel a sense of entitlement – I don’t want to do that, I don’t want to leave this assignment, because I’m entitled to it. … And that’s a problem, because you’re serving the public.”

“You can imagine, it’s sometimes difficult to supervise judges – there can be an ‘I was elected, there’s nothing you can do to me’ type of attitude,” said Ponce de Leon.

These two cases also raise the long-running question of whether the system for electing and retaining judges should be in the hands of voters at all. Since 1990, no Cook County judge has lost a retention election.

“It’s up to the public to take judicial elections as seriously as any other election,” said Marc Karlinsky, editor of the Chicago Law Bulletin. “Even though judges you don’t see every day, they don’t do constituent outreach like a senator, but in a time of need if you’re being accused of something, if you’re being sued, having a good judge can mean a lot of time and a lot of money. The whole system works when judges are good.”

And it’s not just important to have a quality judiciary says Jones, but one that reflects the people whose cases come before the court. “If you look at the [federal] judges in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District, you don’t find a judiciary that reflects the social, economic, racial, ethnic, religious diversity of the community,” Jones said. “In Cook County, we have that. We have a judiciary that reflects the diversity of the community.”

“I firmly believe that the vast majority of our judges do good work in and out of the courtroom,” Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans said in a statement. “They are public servants who are committed to the principles of fair and impartial justice. They also care about the communities where they live, work and raise families.

“Whenever allegations arise about improper conduct by a judge, I meet with the court’s Executive Committee to decide what action is appropriate. While we have no authority to discipline a judge or remove a judge from office, we can assign a judge to administrative duties while the legal or ethical matter is pending. We can also refer matters to the Judicial Inquiry Board, the state agency that prosecutes judicial misconduct. We have done that in the past and will do that in the future as necessary to maintain public confidence in the judiciary,” Evans said.

Full Article & Source:
How Do Cook County Judges Stack Up?

5 Facts and Symptoms of a Brain Aneurysm

Would you realize if you, or someone you loved, was suffering a brain aneurysm? According to data surveyed by the The Lisa Colagrossi Foundation (TLCF), likely not, after the survey results revealed that 93-percent of Americans admitted their knowledge about brain aneurysms ranged from limited to non-existent.

Scary stuff, however, here’s how you can identify all the signs and symptoms of an aneurysm…

1. What’s a Brain Aneurysm?
The Langone Medical Center at New York University explains that a brain aneurysm results due to weakness in the wall of a blood vessel within the brain.

As the strength in the vessel’s wall deteriorates, blood flow pressure can cause a bulge and rupture that causes blood to flow out (or bleed) into the space and tissue around the brain.

2. Un-Ruptured Aneurysms
Research from the Lisa Colagrossi Foundation (TLCF) indicates that up to 9-percent of the U.S. population are currently living with un-ruptured aneurysms. In fact, if the aneurysm never ruptures, many folks will never realize it’s existence.

The TLCF data notes that an MRI or image scan can identify an aneurysm, but your doctor may not suggest treatment if it’s small or if it doesn’t pose a risk for leakage or rupture.

Full Article and Source:
5 Facts and Symptoms of a Brain Aneurysm

25 Investigates: Protective Services does not investigate abuse in nursing homes

SHARON, Mass. - If your loved one is abused in a Massachusetts nursing home, Elder Protective Services will not look into the case, 25 Investigates has uncovered.

25 Investigates first began looking into how suspected elder abuse is investigated after shocking hidden-camera video from a Sharon nursing home caught two aides tossing around and pulling the hair of a 93-year-old grandmother with dementia.

The two aides caught on video are currently facing criminal charges, but 25 Investigates found not every case receives the same amount of attention.

25 Investigates first made the shocking discovery that Elder Protective Services does not investigate suspected abuse in nursing homes after the family of Donna Freedman reached out to Reporter Christine McCarthy.

Freedman, a dementia patient and former Hull resident, now relies on a nursing home for her basic needs.

Last year, bloody and bruised, she was rushed to the hospital from her South Shore nursing home.
Emergency room doctors told her daughter, Marybelle Hall they discovered several fractures to the bone around Freedman’s eye.

“It looked as if somebody hit her with a baseball bat,” Hall told 25 Investigates.

Freedman told doctors she had tripped, while the nursing home reported she may have hit her head on a bedpost.

But doctors didn’t believe those explanations because at the time, Freedman was confined to her bed with an alarm for her safety.

In hospital records obtained by 25 Investigates, emergency room doctors wrote, “We do not feel it is safe for the patient to be brought back to the facility…”

They also alerted Elder Protective Services and the state Department of Public Health of potential abuse, writing “Elder Services and DPH will be involved in the morning,” in Freedman’s medical records.

But Hall told 25 Investigates’ Christine McCarthy she never heard back from the state.

“They said that they would take in the report and that they would follow up on it, but I've never heard anything further,” said Hall.

That’s because 25 Investigates uncovered that Elder Protective Services doesn’t investigate suspected abuse in nursing homes.

Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders defended the decision for Elder Protective Services to avoid investigating potential abuse in nursing homes.

“Because they, the investigations occur by the Department of Public Health that has the licensing authority over nursing homes and abuse,” said Sudders. “The law is very clear.”

State law is clear.

Elder Protective Services is charged with investigating elder abuse anywhere in the state, according to Massachusetts law.

But 25 Investigates found the agency wrote its own rules that push off that responsibility to the Department of Public Health when it comes to nursing homes.

While DPH licenses those nursing homes, the agency doesn’t have the power to investigate individual cases of abuse.

Sudders, who oversees both DPH and Elder Protective Services, maintains that DPH investigates all suspected cases of abuse that occur in nursing homes.

“If you're asking are all individual allegations of abuse of an elder investigated, yes,” said Sudders.

But Hall says she never even received a phone call from state investigators about her mother’s case.

Arlene Germain, president of the Massachusetts Advocates for nursing home reform, said all suspected elder abuse should be investigated.

“If there's any indication of any bruises, if a person emotionally is withdrawing all of a sudden, if there's any emotional change, that of course needs to be investigated,” said Germain.

DPH tells 25 Investigates it did a “review of the information” from the nursing home and hospital and found “neither report supported any allegation of abuse” in Freedman’s case.

The agency said its findings are all confidential and off limits – even to Freedman and her family.

Freedman is at a different nursing home now and doing better, but her daughter still questions why the state’s investigation is so secretive and why no one ever came to see her mother.

“I'm so very, very angry about this, and I don't want it to happen to somebody else's parent,” Hall told 25 Investigates.

Hall has a pending public records request, seeking the findings in her mother’s case from the state

She even offered to sign a medical privacy waiver so that the state could speak with 25 Investigates about the case. But DPH declined that offer and told 25 Investigates it makes the health and safety of nursing home residents its top priority.

Full Article & Source:
25 Investigates: Protective Services does not investigate abuse in nursing homes

‘Heartbreaking’: Medical standoff leaves man with cerebral palsy stranded at hospital for weeks

Alex Scott, 45, who has cerebral palsy, laughs at Inova Loudoun Hospital in Leesburg, Va., where he has been stranded for 23 days while his family and group-home caregivers argue about the need for a feeding tube. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

Alex Scott cannot speak.

If he could, he might be able to answer a crucial question that has pitted the people who speak for him against one another and left him stranded in a Northern Virginia hospital for three weeks.

At issue: Does the 45-year-old with cerebral palsy need a feeding tube?

Scott’s relatives say the group home where he has lived for two decades told them it would not take him back without a feeding tube. His family says the medical procedure is unnecessary and would benefit group-home employees more than Scott.

The struggle over the feeding tube, advocacy groups say, illustrates what can happen to people with disabilities when caregivers disagree about what is best for them.

The family has filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department and contacted the Office of Human Rights within Virginia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.

 

In the meantime, Scott remains at Inova Loudoun Hospital, with his sister, Samantha Tunador, cataloguing each day on social media with the hashtag #takeAlexhome.

“Day 11,” Tunador wrote April 10 on Facebook. “I promise you Alex, we are doing everything we can to get you out of the hospital and back to your home.”

“End of Day 12, and no confirmation that Alex is going home. This just sucks.”

“Day 20,” she says in a video that has been viewed 1,800 times. “We really are not much further.”

As of Friday, Scott had spent 23 days in the hospital. He arrived at the end of March with a slight fever and possible bronchitis and was supposed to be discharged a few days later, his family said.

Margaret Graham, director of Loudoun County’s Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Services, which oversees the group home, said her agency has been in contact with Scott’s family but, because of privacy concerns, she could not discuss the matter publicly.

“We can tell you that as in any situation, [the agency’s] group home providers are committed to promoting health and wellbeing through the provision of individualized supports,” Graham wrote in a statement. When a person is hospitalized, the staff works together to come up with a discharge plan, and, in that planning, “must ensure that an individual’s required support and medical assessment can be safely met in a group home setting. ”

Tunador said the family fears that if Scott is unable to return to the group home, the hospital will find a nursing home for him that will offer less social stimulation and may be farther from his relatives in Loudoun.

“People keep saying to me, ‘Why do you want him to go back to this group home, where the problem is?’ ” Tunador said. “That’s his home. That’s what he knows. It’s where his friend are. It’s where he’s happy. And the unknown is scarier.”

While Scott cannot speak, ­Tunador said he has been clear about what he wants: to leave the hospital.

A video of Scott shows him in bed, shaking his head and screaming. Tunador posted it on Facebook and wrote alongside it that he wanted the nurses to remove his IVs so he could go home: “He has lived in a Loudoun County group home for 20+ years. He has not changed and his level of care is the same. They have changed and it is not fair!” (Click to Continue)

Full Article & Source:
‘Heartbreaking’: Medical standoff leaves man with cerebral palsy stranded at hospital for weeks

Caregiver pleads no contest to elder abuse in Fort Bragg 'mummy' case

Lori Diane Fiorentino

A former caregiver who lived in an apartment with the decaying remains of her client for at least a month before the grisly scene was discovered has pleaded no contest to felony elder abuse.

Lori Diane Fiorentino, 56, faces a maximum of four years in prison when she’s sentenced May 11, according to the settlement agreement, filed Monday in Mendocino County Superior Court. She is, however, eligible for probation in lieu of prison time.

The mummified body of Arlene Potts, 66, was found by Fort Bragg Police at the Duncan Place apartment complex Dec. 14 following a request by the apartment manager for a welfare check, according to testimony at Fiorentino’s preliminary hearing in January.

Potts’ emaciated body, clad in nothing but five layers of feces-encrusted diapers, was on a couch, hidden by a wall of shopping carts and debris, according to court testimony. She could have been dead for six months or more before her body was found.

A former tenant of the Duncan Place senior apartment complex told police the chronic smell in the hallway outside Potts’ door changed last summer from acrid urine to something rotten. She likened it to the stench of a dead whale on a beach.

An autopsy found severe muscle atrophy, emaciation and ulcerated lesions on Potts’ body, but was inconclusive on cause of death, limiting the charging opportunities, Deputy District Attorney Kevin Davenport conceded during the preliminary hearing.

Had there been a more conclusive death determination, Fiorentino might have been charged with an enhancement — that the abuse caused the death — and up to five years could have been added to her sentence.

The case raised questions about elder care in the county and how something so appalling could go undetected for so long.

Tenants of the apartment complex reported they’d repeatedly complained to its manager about the smell. At least one reported her concerns about Potts’ health to the county’s Adult Protective Services months before the body was found.

The manager had not entered the apartment in 11 months. It’s unclear whether Adult Protective Services ever went to the apartment.

The agency successfully fought a request by Fiorentino’s public defender, Frank McGowan, for her case documents, and would not divulge to the media whether Potts ever had been a client.

But according to court transcripts, the agency was contacted by the hospital in Fort Bragg in December 2013 about Potts, who had suffered a major hip injury but refused treatment and refused to go to a nursing home.

A physician who examined Potts suspected she suffered from chronic schizophrenia, but no one attempted to place her under a conservatorship or have her held for further psychiatric evaluation, according to court documents.

Instead, Fiorentino was hired to assist Potts at home through the county’s In-Home Supportive Services. The county reportedly checked on Potts during the first several months but apparently not afterward.

Elder advocates say the various systems responsible for providing or overseeing care for the elderly are rife with problems and in need of improvement. An estimated 1 in 10 Americans over the age of 60 has experienced some type of elder abuse, according to the federal Administration on Aging, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services.

In court, McGowan blamed the county agencies and the hospital for failing Potts. He also said Fiorentino did the best she could given the circumstances.

The “defendant asserts she provided all the care the alleged victim would allow,” McGowan wrote in a court filing seeking Adult Protective Services records.

The courts, he wrote, have held that “competent persons generally are permitted to refuse medical treatment, even at the risk of death.”

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Caregiver pleads no contest to elder abuse in Fort Bragg 'mummy' case

Experts tell Senate that aging in isolation a ‘silent killer’ for millions

W. Mark Clark, president of Pima Council on Aging

WASHINGTON – Mortality rates are higher among seniors who are aging in isolation, a “silent killer” that affects millions but goes mostly unnoticed, experts told a Senate committee Thursday.

Witnesses told the Senate Special Committee on Aging that an estimated 8 million older adults are affected by isolation, putting them at more risk for depression, dementia and mortality.

In Pima County, 46 percent of nearly 2,300 seniors surveyed last year cited social isolation as an issue of living alone, said W. Mark Clark, president of the Pima Council on Aging.

“While aging at home is cited as a top priority by a majority of older people, and doing so has both emotional and economic benefits, aging in place at home can also lead to isolation,” Clark said in his prepared testimony.

But until now, experts said, there has been little national focus on this “loneliness epidemic” – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the committee chairman, said Thursday’s hearing was the first by a congressional panel to focus on social isolation among seniors.

That isolation has caused some damaging effects for old people, said Brigham Young University professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad, who helped conduct a study that linked premature mortality to deficits in social interaction.

Holt-Lunstad said cumulative evidence from 148 different studies that included more than 300,000 participants, revealed that greater social connection is associated with a 50 percent drop in the risk of early death.

The influence social interaction has on mortality matches or sometimes succeeds that of smoking, obesity and air pollution, she said in her testimony.

“Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need, crucial to both well-being and survival,” Holt-Lunstad said. “Yet, an increasing portion of the U.S. population now experiences isolation regularly.”

Clark said the findings come at a time when budgets of programs that can help connect seniors – programs like those under the Older Americans Act that helps fund Pima County’s Meals on Wheels – are facing spending cuts.

Both lawmakers and experts at the hearing recognized Meals on Wheels for its social as well as its nutritional benefits. For some senior citizens, they argued, losing that program means losing their only connection to the community outside their homes.

Clark said other reasons senior citizens may remain isolated is out of fear that if they request services they will be referred to a nursing home and lose the ability to keep living on their own.

Committee members from both sides of the aisle expressed support for further research on the problem, evidence that … the Senate committee is paying attention to this, and that makes us very pleased,” Clark said.

He offered several recommendations that he said were aimed at serving the social needs of aging adults without taking away their independence. Those included increasing funding for services like Meals on Wheels, promoting volunteer efforts that older adults can take part in and providing a wider array of affordable, accessible transportation options for senior citizens who may not be able to drive.

The goal, Clark said, is to reduce isolation and help get people into community activities that add purpose to their lives.

“The problem of social isolation is widespread and knows no race, gender, income or geographic boundaries,” he said in his prepared testimony. “Our willingness to respond and our desire to see greater awareness and resources deployed to address this … cannot be ignored.”

Full Article & Source:
Experts tell Senate that aging in isolation a ‘silent killer’ for millions

Arizonan Testifies At US Senate Committee On Aging And Isolation

Social isolation and loneliness can put older adults at risk for several chronic conditions. In fact, prolonged isolation is comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day, according to the AARP Foundation.

Thursday morning, members of the U.S. Senate Aging Committee started looking at ways to deal with this issue. One witness was from Arizona.

W. Mark Clark is the President and CEO of the Pima Council on Aging. He testified before the committee and talked about what factors contribute to social isolation and loneliness.

"People retiring from other states, move to communities like ours and leave behind their families, friends and support systems," Clark said. "We have become, in a very real sense, where the garage door is the front door."

Other challenges, he said, include: "Changes to mobility, cognitive ability or health status can cause an individual to hold back from previously enjoyed social activities. Older adults in rural areas who can no longer driver are at incredible risk of physical and social isolation unless transportation options are available."

Clark also said language barriers and acting as caregiver can lead to isolation.

Full Article & Source:
Arizonan Testifies At US Senate Committee On Aging And Isolation

Charged with exploiting elderly

A local couple is being charged with several felonies after police say they exploited money from an elderly couple they were caring for.

Martin Schroeder, 62, and Betti Kathryn Schroeder, 60, of Farmington, are both charged with a class B felony of financial exploitation of the elderly.

According to a probable cause statement, on Dec. 30, an officer with the Farmington Police Department received an email and documents from the victims’ son who lives in another state

The email and documents were in reference to his father and mother, who reside in Farmington. The elderly couple and the Schroeders live in the same house and Martin and Betti Schroeder, who are family members, were tasked with caring for the elderly couple.

The man who contacted the police holds general power of attorney for the elderly couple and power of attorney for their health care. In a statement from the reporting party, he expressed concerns for the physical well-being of his parents.

The man said the Schroeders were being paid $4,000 a month to provide daily necessities, health care and constant monitoring of the elderly couple. In the statement, the man indicated he didn’t believe his parents were being monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week as they should have been.

The man also provided email messages between Betty Schroeder and he discussing his parent’s needs. Being power of attorney, he also found some discrepancies on his parents bank statements. He further stated his father, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, was made to authorize transactions.

One loan took place on Sept. 1 and $7,500 was drawn from the elderly couple’s bank account. This money was reportedly withdrawn by Betti Schroeder and given to her youngest daughter. Another withdrawal on June 28, in the amount of $10,500 was made. The monies were reported to have been used to purchase a new GMC SUV for Betti Schroeder.  (Click to Continue)

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Charged with exploiting elderly

Fighting B.A.C.K. with Sandra Grazzini-Rucki: Mary and Coz Whitten ~ Sisters Fought to Protect Beloved Uncle from Guardianship Abuse

This episode of Fighting B.A.C.K. with Sandra Grazzini-Rucki will feature two sisters, Mary and Coz Whitten,who will share their experiences of dealing with guardianship abuse in Montgomery County, PA.

Coz was appointed a co-guardian for her beloved uncle Harvey Whitten after he was diagnosed with dementia. Coz shared a close relationship with her uncle, and in the words of her sister, “showered him with love and attention”. A judge and a banker worked together to remove Coz as co-guardian and then assumed control of every aspect of Hervey’s life, and plundered his estate.

After being placed under the guardianship of the court, Harvey suffered physical, emotional and financial abuse. Harvey was over medicated to the point that according to a doctor “he was given enough medication to kill a horse”.

Unfortunately, thousands of people across the United States are nameless victims to this type of tyranny that appears to be state approved, state implemented, and state enforced. Join us as we expose the shameful racket of elder abuse and the devastating effects on Harvey, and his family.

LISTEN to the archive of the show

See Also:
National Association To Stop Guardian Abuse: Victim Profile Harvey Whitten

Catherine Falk Organization

Guardianship Abuse Spreads to Pennsylvania Part 2 by Michael Volpe

Note:  Both Mary and Coz Whitten are NASGA Legislative Liaisons

CONTACT 13: New Nevada guardianship laws promise accountability and protection

LAS VEGAS (NV) - A Contact 13 investigation has led to long-overdue changes in state law. Abuse and exploitation have run rampant in our adult guardianship system, but protection and oversight are on the way.

It's deadline day in the Nevada Senate and two bills both passed to safeguard older and vulnerable citizens from those who would exploit them.

Court-appointed guardians are supposed to protect those who can't care for themselves.

But, as a recent spate of indictments shows, the so-called protectors often take advantage of vulnerable people for their own personal gain.

Senate Bill 360 increases both civil and criminal accountability in guardianship cases and provides for more prison time for convicted abusers.

It also establishes a bill of rights for people under guardianship.

Senate Bill 433 ensures those protected persons can't be isolated and compels the court to hear cases in short order.

It also makes sure protected persons will have legal representation and authorizes a court to impose fines and order restitution in cases where guardians are guilty of impropriety.

This legislative action comes as the result of a two-year Contact 13 investigation.

After we exposed systemic corruption in the guardianship system and lack of oversight in Clark County Family Court, the Nevada Supreme Court formed a guardianship oversight commission to fix flaws and change laws.

Full Article & Source:
CONTACT 13: New Nevada guardianship laws promise accountability and protection

Atlanta lawyer hit with murder charge in wife's 'accidental' shooting death

Claud “Tex” McIver

A prominent Atlanta attorney who says he accidentally shot and killed his wife last year has been indicted on murder and witness tampering charges.

Claud “Tex” McIver was charged initially with involuntary manslaughter in the death of his wife Diane McIver last September. The murder indictment was unsealed on Thursday.

McIver told police that while sleeping in the backseat of an SUV, a gun he was holding discharged and the bullet went through the seat and struck his wife, Fox 5 Atlanta reports.

Family friend Dani Jo Carter was driving the SUV at the time.

Prosecutors believe McIver may have killed his wealthy wife for her money, the station reported.

“There’s no financial motive. There’s no jealousy. There’s absolutely no motive,” said defense lawyer Stephen Maples, according to the station.

McIver was jailed on Wednesday when authorities found a gun in his home and revoked his bail.

The indictment accuses McIver of instructing Carter to tell police she wasn’t a witness to the shooting, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

Full Article & Source:
Atlanta lawyer hit with murder charge in wife's 'accidental' shooting death

New law seeks to combat vulnerable adult exploitation, abuse

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Vulnerable adults would be better protected against financial exploitation and neglect in Washington state under a new law awaiting the governor's signature.

The legislation, requested by the attorney general, would create a new crime of theft involving a vulnerable adult - any person 18 years or older who is clearly mentally or physically unable to care for himself or herself or suffers from a cognitive impairment.

House Bill 1153 unanimously passed in the Senate earlier this month and was approved in the House in February. A date has not yet been set for the bill to be signed by Gov. Jay Inslee, though it will happen within the next few weeks.

The new statute would rank the crime at a higher seriousness level of theft. Currently, for a standard theft offense, a person could serve zero to 90 days in a county jail if they have no prior criminal history.

The new offenses could force an offender who has no priors to serve up to 12 to 14 months in prison. However, if they've been convicted of several crimes in the past, prosecutors say they could face up to 8 ½ years in prison compared to the existing maximum penalty, which is closer to five years.

Some people opposed this part of the bill during public hearings held earlier this year saying it goes from zero to prison too quickly, but the bill's sponsor, Democratic Rep. Roger Goodman of Kirkland, says financial abuse of elderly and vulnerable adults is reaching epidemic proportions and the penalties are not strong enough to deter anyone.

Last year, the state's adult protective services received more than 35,000 complaints. Of those, nearly 8,700 were related to financial abuse of an elderly or vulnerable adult and more than 5,600 were complaints of neglect.

"We need to send a strong message that abusing the elderly, finically or physically, is serious enough that you're going to have a felony on your record and you're going to go to prison and be supervised afterward," Goodman said.

Under the measure, the standard of proof for criminal mistreatment cases would change from "recklessness" to "criminal negligence," something prosecutors say was needed to make it easier to prove cases.

"This is a major change that will allow us to hold more people accountable who cause vulnerable people serious injury or death," said Page Ulrey, a King County senior deputy prosecuting attorney, who has prosecuted elder abuse cases since 2001.

Ulrey said the new statute seems like a more appropriate penalty for the degree of harm that is often done in these cases, which she says is committed most often by someone the person trusts or loves such as a family member or close friend.

Mike Webb, the legislative affairs director at the attorney general's office, said he's seen jurors fail to find recklessness beyond a reasonable doubt in cases when an offender didn't remove a catheter leading to death or somebody didn't turn a vulnerable person over for so long it led to bed sores to the bone.

"The existing law made it very challenging to bring about a felony criminal mistreatment charge because jurors struggled to find reckless behavior," he said. "Most saw it as a failure to act rather than recklessness."

Ulrey pointed out another significant change the bill would do is extend the statute of limitations as financial exploitation of vulnerable adults can take years to be uncovered. She said it gives law enforcement, prosecutors and other adult protection services six years instead of three to investigate and gather information surrounding the case.

Thirty-seven states have criminal penalties for financial exploitation of the elderly and vulnerable adults, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Thirty-four states currently have pending legislation, NCSL says.

Full Article & Source:
New law seeks to combat vulnerable adult exploitation, abuse

Tonight on T.S. Radio: Danny Tate and "Fugitive from Injustice"

Hosted by Marti Oakley:  5:00 pm PST … 6:00 pm MST … 7:00 pm CST … 8:00 pm EST

“Under the deception of protection, Danny Tate was robbed of his freedom, family, home, livelihood, assets — and the trust he had for the justice system which protected itself and nearly destroyed him. This horrifying case of on-going injustice illustrates the urgent need and speaks loudly for the national call for reform of unlawful and abusive conservatorships and guardianships.”
~ Elaine Renoire-President, NASGA (National Assoc. to Stop Guardianship Abuse)

Hosted by Marti Oakley

Danny Tate returns to the show! Big things are happening in Nashville as the trafficking of human beings through the probate system starts to crumble. As most of you know, Danny is/was a highly successful songwriter and composer in Nashville, targeted by his own brother for exploitation. The brother, with the help of some really twisted legal experts, nows lives quite lavishly on the proceeds of Danny’s work, continues to collect every dime he can get his hands on from Danny’s estate.

They stole his music, his home and ultimately his children from him, documented in his autobiography…Fugitive From Injustice available now on Amazon.

We will also be talking over the recent S 178 Elder Abuse & Exploitation Prevention Act that was floated out there on the public and misrepresented as a “fix” for elder exploitation by professional guardians, conservators and attorneys who abuse the system for personal profit. If you thought this bill was going to impede the money train or hold these people responsible, you are sadly mistaken.

LISTEN to the show LIVE or listen to the archive later



Fugitive From Injustice is available through Amazon

Syracuse nursing home fined for sex abuse among residents, growing national problem

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A Jamesville nursing home has been fined by the state for failing to protect residents from sexual abuse by other residents, which experts say is part of a growing national problem at nursing homes.

A state Health Department inspection conducted last April found Iroquois Nursing Home did not properly manage two male residents with histories of being aggressive and sexually abusing other residents in the dementia unit of the 160-bed facility at 4600 Southwood Heights Drive.

The health department recently fined Iroquois $16,000 as part of a settlement agreement posted on the department's website. It's the third largest fine imposed on an Onondaga County nursing home in 10 years, health department records show.

An inspection report shows the two men at Iroquois, who suffered from dementia and other health problems, abused other residents and staff.

A sizable and growing problem

Sexually inappropriate and hostile behavior among nursing home residents is a sizable and growing problem, according to a 2014 Cornell University study.

The study of 10 New York nursing homes with more than 2,000 residents found one in five residents were involved in at least one negative and aggressive encounter with one or more fellow residents in the previous four weeks.

The state Health Department said there were six substantiated cases of nursing home resident-on-resident sexual abuse statewide between Oct. 1, 2013 and Sept. 30, 2016.

The study found sexual abuse is just one of many types of inappropriate behaviors that occurs among nursing home residents.

The long term care ombudsman program, a national volunteer watchdog group that investigates complaints by nursing home residents nationwide, compiles statistics on resident-on-resident physical and sexual abuse. It does not keep separate data on sexual abuse.

Those statistics show the combined number of physical and sexual abuse cases investigated grew from 1,903 in 2012 to 2,987 in 2015, a 57 percent increase.

Abuse jeopardized health of 40 residents

The state cited Iroquois for "immediate jeopardy," the most severe type of deficiency that causes, or may cause, serious injury, harm, impairment or death to the residents. The problem jeopardized the health and safety of 40 nursing home residents who lived near the two men, according to the state.

 One of the abusive men put his genitals in the mouth of a female resident, exposed himself in front of someone's room, inappropriately touched other residents and grabbed a female member "in a forceful manner," according to the report. In one 30-day period, the man engaged in aggressive, sexually abusive and inappropriate behavior at least 10 times, the report shows.

The other abuser, who had Alzheimer's disease, put his hands under the shirt of a female resident lying in her bed, squeezed an employee's breasts and grabbed, scratched, pinched, hit and kicked other staff members.

Some of the incidents were captured on the nursing home's video cameras.

Iroquois said in a prepared statement it reported a serious, resident-to-resident incident on its secured unit for residents with severe dementia that triggered the state Health Department investigation. The home said it cooperated with the state to correct the problem.

Nursing home residents who engage in this type of behavior tend to be mentally disabled, but physically capable of moving around the facility, the study found.

"I think this is a fast growing trend that needs to be addressed," said Brian Lee of Families for Better Care, a national nonprofit advocacy group for nursing home residents.

Understaffing can lead to abuse

Sexual abuse among residents is almost always a symptom of nursing home understaffing, according to Lee. "There often is not enough staff to supervise residents and not enough training," he said.
Residents with dementia who sexually abuse other residents rarely face criminal prosecution because they lack the mental ability to have criminal intent, Lee said.

Not all cases of sexual abuse among residents are reported.

A mentally impaired male resident of a Schenectady nursing home had sexual contact many times with female residents in 2014, but the facility did not flag the incidents as sexual abuse, a state Health Department inspection report shows.

The state cited Ellis Residential & Rehabilitation Center for failing to identify the incidents as sexual abuse, thoroughly investigate them or increase supervision.

In a signed settlement with the state, Iroquois admitted there was substantial evidence of the violations cited by the health department.

Victims often the most vulnerable nursing home residents

The inspection report faulted the nursing home for not doing a better job of managing the abusive residents' behavior. Even though a small dose of antipsychotic medication seemed to improve one of the men's behavior, the nursing home discontinued it without providing an alternative treatment, the report says.

The home also failed to complete thorough investigations of the incidents and take enough steps to protect residents, according to the report.

The nursing home corrected the problem by having staff provide one-to-one monitoring of each of the men and developing interventions to use when residents engage in sexually inappropriate behavior.

State regulations require nursing homes to identify residents whose personal histories put them at risk of abusing other residents. The health department said nursing homes must monitor these individuals to prevent abuse.

Sexual assault is one of the the least acknowledged, detected and reported types of assault against nursing home residents, according to a report in The Gerontologist.

Victims are often females with mental or physical impairments -- the most vulnerable nursing home residents, the report says.

Full Article & Source:
Syracuse nursing home fined for sex abuse among residents, growing national problem

Lisa Belanger Guests on "Ambush Studios"

Lisa Belanger, daughter of Marvin Seigel, guests on "Ambush Studios" and tells what happened and is happening to her father who is under guardianship in the State of Massachusetts.

Listen to "Ambush Studios 4/26/17" on Spreaker.

See Also:
NASGA: Marvin Siegel, MA Victim

Financial Elder Abuse In Los Angeles

Financial elder abuse lawyers in Los Angeles know that California’s elderly population has been rapidly increasing in the last three decades. People age 65 and older are the fastest-growing segment of California’s population. In some counties, the increase since 1990 has been more than 150 percent. In Los Angeles, the percentage increase of older adults since 1990 is between 50 and 99 percent. As the segment of senior citizens has rapidly increased, so have concerns about the potential for elder abuse in the state. There are various types of elder abuse. Financial exploitation of the elderly is especially problematic and rampant, and there are laws in California that are meant to protect older adults from this type of economic exploitation.

Statistics on Financial Elder Abuse

The National Council on Aging reports that an estimated 5 million people ages 60 and older suffer from some form of abuse. One in 10 adults in that age group is abused. According to one study, one one out of every 14 cases of abuse is reported to authorities. Sixty percent of the cases involve perpetrators who are family members, and 66 percent of the perpetrators are either the adult children or spouses of the victims.

How people take advantage of senior citizens financially

Financial abuse of senior citizens may take multiple forms. It can involve taking the checks of an elderly person and cashing them without permission. Some people steal checks and forge them. Others withdraw large amounts of money from their victims’ bank accounts. Exploitation also includes stealing money or possessions from elders. Some people coerce older adults into signing documents such as wills or contracts. Finally, some perpetrators financially exploit older people by abusing their powers of attorney, conservatorships or guardianships.

Signs of potential abuse of older persons

There are some common signs that elderly people are being exploited. They may not be taking care of their basic expenses despite the fact that they should be able to afford them. Suddenly changing their normal banking practices is also a sign, including having another person who is with the older adult withdraw a large amount of money. Adding extra names to accounts may be a sign, and unauthorized withdrawals using the older adult’s ATM card are also suspect. Relatives who were previously uninvolved may suddenly appear and lay claim to the elderly person’s possessions or money. Discovering forged signatures is another indicator that exploitation is occurring. Making larger than necessary loans against homes in order to finance investments may also indicate exploitation. Elders adding caretakers’ names to their wills in exchange for continued caretaking may also indicate that they are being exploited.

Summary of California laws for the protection of the elderly

California law penalizes the exploitation of the elderly, and a lawyer who accepts elder abuse cases may help clients with recovering the money that was stolen. Under California Welfare and Institutions Code § 15610.30, plaintiffs must prove several things to show that an older person was exploited. The plaintiff’s lawyer will work to prove that the defendant retained, appropriated, hid or took the property or money of the elderly person or helped someone else with doing so. He or she will also demonstrate that the older adult was either 65 or older or was a dependent adult at the time and that the person who took, retained, appropriated or hid the property did so for an unlawful purpose or with the intent to defraud the victim. Finally, he or she will need to prove that the victim suffered harm that was caused by the defendant’s actions.

The cases may be brought either by the elderly victims of abuse or by their decedents if the exploitation is discovered after their deaths. In addition to compensatory damages, the court will award reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs to plaintiffs who are able to prove that the abuse happened. Victims may also be able to recover damages for pain and suffering in some cases.

Full Article & Source:
Financial Elder Abuse In Los Angeles