Elder Abuse Awareness

Incident in New Glasgow home may lead to elder abuse policy

2007-03-15T03:12:00.000-07:00

The province hopes to develop an elder abuse action plan that would be used by all government and private seniors homes in Nova Scotia, Health Minister Chris d’Entremont said Wednesday. But he stopped short of saying legislation covering abuse of the elderly needs to be drawn up in this province. Mr. d’Entremont was commenting at Province House in Halifax after making a statement on his department’s probe into an incident of elder abuse at a New Glasgow nursing home. In January, two nurses at Glen Haven Manor taped the mouth of a resident and drew a happy face on it. The staffers were suspended without pay. The College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia has launched an investigation. Mr. d’Entremont said he’s satisfied his department’s probe has indicated the safety of the female resident involved, and that of other elderly people in the nursing home, are not in danger.

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SF MAN SENTENCED FOR ELDER FINANCIAL ABUSE

2007-02-04T10:21:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco Police Department reports that a man accused of targeting elderly San Francisco residents in two home repair scams pleaded guilty to charges of elder financial abuse on Jan. 26. Efram "Pudgy" Miller, 44, was sentenced to five years in state prison for his involvement in two cases where, posing as a licensed contractor, he approached two elderly residents in San Francisco's Sunset and Richmond districts after noticing minor repairs needed on the residents' homes. Miller reportedly convinced the elderly residents to contract with him for repairs described by an industry expert as "substandard,'' according to police. The victims paid Miller approximately $25,000 dollars in each case. Police arrested Miller on Dec. 3 after the Police Department's Fraud Section conducted an extensive investigation.

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HUMAN FECES PROMPTS SAN FRANCISCO ELDER ABUSE INVESTIGAITON

2007-01-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

Police are investigating a case of possible elder abuse after fire officials responding to a medical call discovered an elderly woman living in a residence littered with human feces, according to a San Francisco police dispatcher. According to police and fire dispatchers, at around 2:10 a.m. police arrived at 780 Pacheco Street in San Francisco and discovered the inhumane living conditions. The woman is said to be physically unharmed, according to the dispatcher. .

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Nurse takes the stand in alleged elder abuse case

2007-01-21T10:25:00.000-08:00

A nurse at a San Andreas convalescent hospital testified Thursday that she twice saw Attila Horvath of Sonora ask 98-year-old Ross Anderson to sign blank checks for him. Those checks and others are at the core of the charge of financial elder abuse Horvath faces in connection with the alleged theft of $12,000 from Anderson between January and May 2006. A trial in the case began Wednesday in Tuolumne County Superior Court. Deputy District Attorney Eric Hovatter said Anderson signed 12 checks made out to either Horvath or his wife. They were later cashed and put into Horvath's checking account. Anderson, a frail man who is hard of hearing and can't see well, said he didn't know he was signing checks for Horvath. He has said he thought he was signing checks to pay his bills.

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ROOFING JOB DISPUTE COULD LEAD TO ELDER ABUSE CHARGES

2007-01-14T10:27:00.000-08:00

Fairfield police said a local roofing company faces financial elder abuse charges regarding an uncompleted roofing project on a 75-year-old resident's home. Police said Wednesday they have referred their investigation of A-1 Builders to the Solano County district attorney's office. Police said the elderly resident hired the company, owned by Victor Luna, to replace his roof in December 2005 before that winter's heavy rains began. Police said Luna convinced the man the roof could be replaced at a reasonable price and in a short period of time. The resident paid $5,000 in advance and A-1 Builders removed the old roofing material and left the framing but never replaced the roof, police said. The rains that followed caused $50,000 damage to the resident's home, police said.

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Do you suspect elder abuse? How to get help

2007-01-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

This holiday season, you may have visited elderly relatives and shared a time of laughter and fun. But amid the light conversation, there could have been some dark possibilities. The National Center on Elder Abuse offers advice on signs of elder abuse. Some of the warning signs of elder abuse are easy to spot, such as bruises, black-and-blue marks and abrasions. Other signs are less apparent. The center says 90 percent of all elder abuse is committed by relatives, so if your friend or loved one lives with a spouse or adult child, be on the lookout for tense relationships and constant arguments. If you suspect a problem, ask the person if he or she is being abused. It puts you in an uncomfortable position, but you may be saving your loved one from a painful situation.

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Nursing home owner acquitted of elder abuse

2006-12-31T10:23:00.000-08:00

Footage of an elderly man claiming abuse by a nursing home manager before he passed away was not enough evidence to convict the worker, Canada's top court ruled Thursday. In a 7-0 judgment, the Supreme Court acquitted Ramnarine Khelawon on charges of aggravated assault and uttering threats against people in his care at Toronto's Bloor West Village retirement home. Since all the residents accusing Khelawon had passed away before the trial could even begin, the only evidence against him hinged on one elderly man's video statement. But because the retirement home resident was no longer alive, the high court ruled there were doubts about the reliability of the statement and no way Khelawon's lawyer could do a cross-examination. In light of this, the court concluded there was no way Khelawon could have a fair trial.

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Sobbing woman gets four years in elder abuse

2006-12-24T10:22:00.000-08:00

STOCKTON - She wept before the judge even entered the courtroom. And she wept nearly two hours later as bailiffs escorted her away in shackles. "I've been a good person all my life," Marietta Dabanian told the court Friday in a rambling plea for leniency. "Why would I suddenly want to steal from the one person who truly loved me and cared for me?" Despite her tears, the caregiver was sentenced to four years in state prison for fleecing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a 92-year-old woman now suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Although Dabanian, 42, has no prior criminal record and denied intentionally stealing, the case involved "a significant amount of money, more than $100,000," San Joaquin Superior Court Judge Bernard Garber said before pronouncing sentence. "This was not something that occurred by happenstance," said Garber, who ordered Dabanian to pay $187,000 in restitution.

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Redding man held in elder abuse

2006-12-12T10:22:00.000-08:00

REDDING - A 22-year-old Redding man who took $35,000 from his grandfather's checking account turned himself into the Redding Police Department Monday. Jeremiah Doyle was charged on a warrant for financial elder abuse, embezzlement and forgery. From February through August, Doyle, the caregiver of his grandfather, 84-year-old Redding resident LLoyd Doyle, would pay his grandfather's bills, then withdraw money from his checking account using his debit card and pin number. Doyle also asked his grandfather to sign blank checks before filling out the checks to himself and forged his grandfather's name on checks, according to the Redding Police Department. Doyle is in Shasta County Jail on $100,000 bail. Investigator Linda Gisske said that cases where people steal from older family members who are dependent on them is "common." In a "huge majority of my cases, the suspects are family members," she said.

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Inland San Diego County Community News Briefs: Elder abuse ...

2006-11-28T10:23:00.000-08:00

ESCONDIDO ---- A representative from the District Attorney's Office, Elder Abuse Unit, will present a free seminar on elder abuse and identity theft from 10 to 11 a.m. Nov. 28 as part of the Joslyn Senior Center's "Talk Tuesday" seminar series at the senior center, 210 Park Ave. For information, call (760) 839-4688.Come to Santa's Workshop on Dec. 2 ESCONDIDO ---- Families are invited to attend Santa's Workshop between 8:30 and 11:30 a.m. Dec. 2 at the East Valley Community Center, 2245 E. Valley Parkway. The event is offered by Escondido Recreation and Friends of the Library. .

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More doctors are being investigated in elder abuse medical scandal

2006-11-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

Twelve doctors are now suspected of carrying out illegal medical experiments on hundreds of elderly patients at the Kaplan Hospital's Hertzfeld Geriatric Center in Rehovot, a police representative told the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee on Monday. Ch.-Supt Meir Cohen, the head of internal investigations for the public security office, told the committee that in addition to the four doctors initially questioned in the affair, eight other doctors are now being investigated. So far, only three arrests have been made in the affair. Police said that the charges issued against them could include abuse of helpless victims, assault under aggravated circumstances, causing death through negligence, fraud, forgery, and obstruction of an investigation. They added that additional suspects would be investigated in the coming days.

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Schemer owns up to abuse of elder

2006-11-14T10:23:00.000-08:00

OAKLAND — By all appearances, Danny Ronen was a charming, 31-year-old University of California, Berkeley, grad who made a living helping an elderly Oakland couple manage their household bills. But prosecutors say Ronen used his charisma and impressive resume to earn the trust of an elderly woman before bilking her out of more than $75,000. On Friday, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Julie Conger sentenced Ronen to five years of felony probation after he pleaded no contest to felony elder abuse and grand theft. Ronen met the well-to-do Dr. Warren Kelley and his wife, Kathryn Kelley, at the Claremont Country Club in 2001. Shortly after meeting, the doctor hired Ronen, whose business, "Productive Procrastination," offered to help set people up to pay their bills online.

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Social workers stand by to help stop elder abuse

2006-11-09T16:53:00.000-08:00

Representatives from San Rafael-based Institute on Aging offer a 24-hour hotline to provide counseling and help to victims of elder abuse. According to statistics from the institute, 90 percent of all elder abuse is perpetrated by family members. Of those abusers, 50 percent are adult children. Marin County Adult Protective Services has social workers available for counseling and has a list of warning signs for elders who may be abused. The hotline number is 507-2774. .

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Health agency to pay $160,000 for elder abuse

2006-11-07T10:22:00.000-08:00

The Quebec Human Rights Commission has ordered the regional health agency in the Beauce to pay $160,000 to victims of elder abuse at five long-term care facilities in the area. The call for compensation follows a four-year investigation into allegations of physical and verbal abuse against 13 seniors, in their 80s and 90s at the time, who lived in homes in the region southeast of Quebec City. Eight of the victims have since died. The commission concluded that the patients were hostages to the moods of their caregivers and neglected on a regular basis. "We found people who had been sitting in their soiled diapers for hours on end. We now call it 'the diaper wars,' " said Huguette Giroux, director of the Centre de santé et services sociaux de la Beauce.

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Be aware of elder abuse

2006-10-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

The Grey Bruce Community Care Access Centre will launch a new protocol to help police and other emergency services identify and report possible cases of elder abuse. Senior Abuse Resource Co ordinator Laura Balletta says contrary to popular belief most victims of elder abuse are mentally competent and 'with-it'. Balletta says elder abuse can take many forms not just physical. Everything from over medicating and failing to provide adequate hygeine to abuse of 'power of attorney' or verbal intimidation. The Community Care Access Centre has several programs to help seniors in Bruce and Grey counties including a 24 hour hotline, emergency intervention and accommodation. >> see all of today's news >> see the last seven days of news << back to main page .

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CARETAKER ARRESTED IN VACAVILLE FOR ELDER FINANCIAL ABUSE

2006-10-19T01:59:00.000-07:00

Vacaville police have arrested a self-employed in-home caretaker on suspicion of stealing two checks from her elderly patient and trying to cash them for $3,000. Sgt. Charlie Spruill said 27-year-old Christina Nicholle McGee, of Fairfield, was arrested Thursday morning at the office of the Police Department's Family Investigative Response Services Team. She was booked into the Solano County jail for burglary, elder abuse and forgery. Her bail is $76,666, Spruill said. Spruill said McGee stole a check from the elderly patient and wrote it for $2,000. She deposited it in the 86-year-old patient's bank account then tried to withdraw $2,000 from a different branch of the bank, Spruill said. The bank put a hold on the check because it was for more than $1,000, Spruill said.

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Elder Abuse Charges

2006-10-19T01:58:00.000-07:00

33-year-old Robert Gregory Holman and his wife 48-year-old Gina Marie Trevino were arrested on September 1 on suspicion of financial elder abuse. The couple is behind bars and faces a host of criminal charges for allegedly taking more $50,000 from an elderly couple in the North County. Both the elderly man and wife are blind and suffer dementia. On Thursday, the Sheriff's officials announced nearly two dozen charges against the caretakers. Those charges include conspiracy, caretaker theft, grand theft auto and credit fraud. According to investigators the victims lost a large part of their life savings, signed over their Cardiff home of 40 years to the suspect and were forced into an Oceanside motel. The caretakers are also suspected of mail fraud to use the elderly couple's identity to purchase several new cars.

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Kalama couple suffers theft, abuse & neglect in elder abuse case

2006-10-19T01:57:00.001-07:00

Editor's note: All information in this story is based on court documents and interviews with Albert Sigea, his friends and family members, attorneys, guardians and local authorities.Albert Sigea was hungry.There was nothing to eat in his immense kitchen, where clouds of fruit flies hovered above the dirty dishes and rotting food spilled across the broad counter tops. Sigea, a World War II veteran, and his wife, Lila, both 82, would be having candy for lunch, as they had for breakfast.Huddled in her wheelchair, Lila Sigea (pronounced "Siggy"), a slim feather of a woman with advanced Alzheimer's, needed to be bathed and changed. That would have to wait -- Al Sigea, a slender man with a touch of dementia, couldn't handle all his wife's needs himself. .

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Couple In Jail, Charged With Elder Abuse

2006-10-19T01:57:00.000-07:00

ENCINITAS, Calif. -- A couple was behind bars Thursday and facing a slate of criminal charges for allegedly bilking more than $50,000 from an elderly North County man and his wife, both of whom are blind and suffer from dementia. Investigators arrested Robert Gregory Holman, 33, and his 48-year-old wife, Gina Marie Trevino, on Sept. 1 on suspicion of several counts each of financial elder abuse. Sheriff's officials announced Thursday morning that they will seek nearly two dozen additional charges -- including conspiracy, caretaker theft, grand theft auto and credit fraud -- against the suspects at their arraignment next week. .

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Couple held in elder abuse

2006-10-19T01:56:00.002-07:00

When Missouri resident Garneth Sylvia, 92, was befriended by a woman in Southern California, she entered an association that would eventually leave her penniless and living in a mobile home. District attorney's investigators and San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies arrested Charlene and Mark Humphrey of Twentynine Palms on Oct. 5 on suspicion of elder abuse and grand theft against Sylvia over the past two years. Charlene Humphrey contacted Sylvia in early 2004 to buy the house that had belonged to Sylvia's recently deceased sister. "Then 19 days later the suspect calls the victim back and says, `I know you want to move to California and I found (a house on) Morongo Road,"' said Senior Investigator Maurice Landrum of the district attorney's Real Estate Fraud Unit. Sylvia purchased the home in Twentynine Palms for $50,000, and Charlene Humphrey told her she would place her own name on the paperwork to make the long-distance purchase easier.

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Elderly warned of 'financial abuse'

2006-10-19T01:56:00.001-07:00

The state's Public Trustee has warned people to be wary of the signs of elder financial abuse and to exercise care when giving authority to others to manage their financial affairs. Public Trustee CEO Peter Maloney said yesterday that financial abuse of Tasmanian elders, often by a family member, friend, carer and in rare cases a professional, could be difficult to identify. Financial abuse was defined as illegal or improper use of someone's assets - withholding funds failure to repay loans and using possessions without permission. Mr Maloney said elderly people often were unaware of the abuse or were fearful of speaking up in case it destroyed relationships. A recent Queensland study said 80 per cent of suspected financial abuse cases involved close family members.

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Free seminar on elder abuse prevention set for Oct. 24

2006-10-19T01:56:00.000-07:00

Local residents are invited to attend all-day seminar Oct. 24 focusing on the identification, intervention and prosecution of elder abuse. Sponsored by the Third Judicial Circuit Family Violence Prevention Council, the Madison County State's Attorney's office and the Southwestern Illinois Law Enforcement commission, the seminar is free and open to the public. Breakfast begins at 8:30 a.m. Those interested in attending are asked to register by Oct. 17 so that the appropriate amount of food can be ordered. Please contact council coordinator Kathy Harris at 296-4580 to register. "Illinois has passed laws against elder abuse and neglect for both physical abuse and financial exploitation," council co-chair Judge Barbara Crowder stated in information released about the seminar.

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Hidden camera used in elder abuse lawsuit

2006-10-19T01:55:00.002-07:00

The family of an elderly Alzheimer's patient is suing a nursing home near Montreal after a hidden camera allegedly revealed the patient being mistreated by staff. The images were captured by Chantal Contant, whose 78-year-old father Leandre was a patient at the CLSC-CHSLD Meilleur long-term care facility in L'Assomption, Que. Video footage from the hidden camera allegedly reveals poor hygiene at the home and an orderly dragging a frail Contant on the floor after a fall in Dec. 2005. The orderly has since been fired and is facing possible criminal charges. CTV's Stephane Giroux, reporting from Montreal, said the family had hired high-profile Montreal lawyer Jean-Pierre Menard and was suing the long-term care facility for $80,000. "Chantal felt that there was something wrong, so she installed a hidden camera inside his room and she caught an orderly dragging her father on the floor in a very rough manner," Giroux told CTV News Thursday.

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Couple Indicted In Elder Abuse

2006-10-19T01:55:00.001-07:00

A Harnett County couple was indicted Monday on elder abuse charges in the case of a 78-year-old Lillington woman. Linda Arab Kaneklides died on Nov. 15, 2005, four days after her son and daughter-in-law were charged by authorities with abusing her. George and Ann Kaneklides, formerly of Lillington, were each indicted on one count of abuse of a disabled or neglected adult in the case. While a family member of the victim said they are not pleased with the state's handling of the case, District Attorney Tom Lock said the medical evidence did not support a homicide verdict. "We looked at the Kaneklides case very, very closely, with an eye toward indicting them on homicide charges," Mr. Lock said. "Frankly, the medical evidence did not support a homicide verdict." Mr.

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Review: Blobs Show Plenty of Personality

2006-10-19T01:55:00.000-07:00

Video-game companies are always trying to impress us with flashier graphics. As game consoles grow more sophisticated, designers are always finding new ways to make the virtual world look more like the real world _ and make virtual characters look more human. Thats great for an immersive role-playing epic like"The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion"or a dramatic war game like"Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter."But a lot of our favorite games are completely unrealistic and manage to be enormously entertaining despite less than state-of-the-art graphics. Who needs a finely detailed human avatar when you can have just as much fun with a low-res cartoon like Mario? Who says a hero has to be humanoid at all? Theres a long tradition of video-game stars _ guys like Pac-Man, Q bert and Kirby _ who are little more than blobs with eyeballs.

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Elder Pharma`s net spurts up 95.2% in Sep`06 qtr

2006-10-19T01:53:00.000-07:00

Elder Pharmaceutical (Q, N,C,F)* has posted a 95.2% rise in net profit after tax and exceptional items to Rs 141.85 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2006 as compared with Rs 72.67 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2005. Total income has increased by 30.41% to Rs 1108.8 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2006 from Rs 850.22 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2005. The EPS has increased by 89.66% to Rs 7.89 for the quarter ended September 30, 2006 from Rs 4.16 for the quarter ended September 30, 2005. The company is mainly into the manufacturing of bulk drugs and formulations and has both its plants at Navi Mumbai. Formulations and bulk drugs are major contributors to the company`s revenues. * Q - Quote , N - News , C - Chart , F - Financials .

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