ISSAQUAH, Wash. - FOX
13 has uncovered what appears to be an uncommon and particularly cruel
form of potential elder abuse in one of our communities.
A
weeks-long investigation found mistreatment that wasn’t physical but
instead appears to have been financially exploitative, with victims
sharing accounts of emotional manipulation by the same man.
One of the victims is a beloved 80-year-old man from Issaquah, whom
many in town know for the decades he served as the owner of Lewis
Hardware.
"I didn’t realize what he was doing until it was too late," said Steve White, who is also known as Homer.
White’s
stepsons, Kevin and Jim Carey, said White is known to be an incredibly
kind person, very outgoing and someone who will help everybody.
The
brothers said a man named Steven Dempsey came off as harmless in the
beginning, but soon the family started noticing some red flags.
"Steve
Dempsey just came in here and made out to be everybody’s best friend.
He’s very good at being everybody’s friend, as a lot of people who do
what he does, kind of gain your trust right away," said Jim. "He
definitely knew what he was doing, and he was working angles to get in
to live here, which is ultimately what he was able to do. There was a
whole new bed made up and belongings, and so it was obvious that
somebody was staying there, and my brother asked my stepdad, ‘He’s not
living here is he?’ and my stepdad said, ‘No, he’s just sleeping here.’"
The
family said Dempsey first offered to chop up a fallen tree in exchange
for the firewood, and proceeded to do other odd jobs around the
property.
Now, White's home has a ripped-up sidewalk, a large
pile of wood and tree limbs in the back, a makeshift fence and a set of
stairs leading up a tree.
Kevin called Issaquah Police, and
officers said the family would have to evict Dempsey, since he had taken
tenancy inside the home.
The family said Dempsey moved
himself into White's home in mid-January and refused to leave until the
family evicted him a month later.
"According to my stepdad, he
said he only gave Dempsey the debit card twice to go get food, and we
had to tell him, we went through the bank record and said ‘look at it,
no, he was up at the casino, you know, Snoqualmie drawing out money
multiple times in the same day,’" said Jim. "So we don’t know if he was
just taking and gambling away, or he was just taking it out in
increments and keeping the money."
"You’ve gotten in here and
gotten a hold of my stepdad‘s finances to some degree, locked my brother
and my phone from my stepdad‘s phone, trying to isolate us from him. So
he could try and move in and take control of the property and the house
and live off of my stepdad‘s money," said Kevin. "Once we got him
removed, and we were able to get back in the house, we found my
stepdad’s pills that he has to take were kind of hidden in the back
counter underneath some stuff, so he hadn’t been taking them for
probably the better part of a month," said Kevin.
White has been diagnosed with early stages of dementia, which we learned is common in elder abuse cases.
"I
think the two most common factors we see in people who are victimized
are dementia and social isolation," said Senior Deputy Prosecuting
Attorney Page Ulrey of the King County Prosecutor’s Office. "Often we
see gambling addiction and spending addiction is sort of driving the
exploitation."
Ulrey has dedicated the last two decades of her career as an elder abuse prosecutor in King County.
She
said cases historically across the U.S. have been underreported and
under prosecuted and that for every one case of elder abuse that occurs
another 23 never come to light.
Studies have also found that any form of elder abuse increases the risk of premature death of the victim by 300%
"The
betrayal they feel, it’s just incredibly devastating, and they also
don’t have the ability to get that money back. They can’t start over
again and get a new job and start saving. They’re retired, they have no
additional sources of income, and they’ve lost everything to someone
they thought they could trust," said Ulrey.
Carol Sullivan, 74, thought she could trust Dempsey as well.
"I
wrote everything that he had done and how I was afraid of him, I really
was," said Sullivan. "He acts like he’s going to do all this stuff for
you, ‘oh, let me do that, let me do that,’ and then the next thing you
know he’s taking from you."
Sullivan filed for a protection
order against Dempsey in 2021. In the filing, she claims Dempsey
threatened to kill a dog they were watching, stabbed a friend of theirs
on the forehead and that he stole from them and brought stolen items to
their places.
In fact, Sullivan said Dempsey brought rare, old coins to her home that had gone missing from White's house.
Sullivan evicted Dempsey at the end of 2021 and said it appears he targeted White next.
White’s
family successfully filed a five-year vulnerable adult protection order
against Dempsey, and FOX 13 News has talked to at least one other
couple in Issaquah who said Dempsey stole from them as well.
Dempsey
is not currently facing any criminal charges. FOX 13 has reached out to
Issaquah Police, who say the case involving Dempsey's encounters with
White is an open investigation.
"I would urge them to report it
to the police," said Ulrey. "It’s a crime to financially exploit
someone. It’s a crime to physically abuse someone, obviously, or abuse
them in any way."
Common signs of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation can include:
- A new power of attorney
- A decrease in self-care, including missed doctor’s appointments
- A dramatic change in spending patterns
- A change in socializing, i.e. missing church all of a sudden or an activity they loved
- A new best friend they’re suddenly spending a lot of time with to the exclusion of long-time friends or family members
Ulrey said it’s important to maintain strong connections with the older people in your life.
She also recommends having more than one person or family member managing the finances of older loved ones.
"If
anybody has any vulnerable parents at home, really keep an eye on them
and ask them questions, because there’s other people out there like
Dempsey who are trying to take advantage of people," said Jim.
"It’s
the most common refrain I hear from the victims I work with, that they
feel ashamed or they feel stupid, and it just breaks my heart to hear
that," said Ulrey. "What I would say to them is, this is not your fault,
this is their fault. You did nothing wrong."
The King County
Prosecuting Attorney’s Office launched a joint venture with Aging and
Disability Services and Adult Protective Services to establish the King County Elder Abuse Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) in 2019.
The
MDT strengthens ties between many agencies to respond to reports of
elder abuse by bringing together professionals across disciplines to
improve the system response to cases of elder abuse, neglect and
financial exploitation in King County.
Ulrey said if you suspect abuse, call 911 and report it to police. She also recommends getting in touch with Adult Protective Services, which investigates and helps with protective orders and guardianships.
She also recommends the agency Sound Generations which offers resources, and will do intakes and referrals for cases. Their phone number is 206-448-3110.
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