Lauderdale Co. woman arrested for elder abuse

By Aria Pons

LAUDERDALE CO., Ala. (WAFF) - A Lauderdale County man is in the hospital while his daughter is charged with elder abuse.

Investigators say the man was not being properly taken care of. Now he’s in the ICU waiting on multiple surgeries to fix what’s wrong.

Lauderdale County investigators tell me this is up there with one of the worst cases of elder abuse that they’ve seen.

“The sooner you can say something, the more we can probably help out the victims,” Sergeant Jordan Craig said.

On around June 10, investigators were called to the hospital to check in on an elderly man.

When they got there, they could clearly see someone who needed help.

“Some pretty severe infections from some bed sores and what appear to be other injuries,” Sgt. Craig said. “Nothing that appears to be actual physical abuse just lack of care. Which can be just as bad. Yes.”

Court records state that the man fell and got stuck between furniture for almost an hour before someone other than his caregiver took him to the hospital.

He’s bedbound so he relies on his caregiver for everything: bathing, eating and using the restroom.

And his caregiver was his own daughter and power of attorney.

“Unfortunately a lot of the time these cases go unreported because of that,” Craig said. “Because the only people that see them is their caregiver.

And to combat that, Lauderdale County Sergeant Jordan Craig suggests checking in on them yourself or calling for a welfare check.

There are some things to look out for.

“Lack of proper care, malnourishment, lack of treatment,” Craig said. “A lot of time these patients are bedridden so they need to be turned so they don’t get bed sores. They need to have their food to be brought to them.”

According to court records, the person who found the victim made sure to stop at multiple ATMs to withdraw money for the victim’s daughter, before dropping him off at the hospital.

Sergeant Craig said they are still investigating further to see.

Full Article & Source:
Lauderdale Co. woman arrested for elder abuse