Elder Abuse By Strangers and Others

One trend that the creation of the local stories database revealed is making "elder abuse" a charge in cases where a stranger to the victim committed an assault.

Although not confined to California, the pattern seems strongest there.

• In Oceanside, California, in January, the man who led teenagers in home-invasion robberies in which two elderly men were bound hand and foot was charged with elder abuse, among other things ("Robbery ringleader suspect to stand trial," January 3, 2003, www.signonsandiego.com).
• In Carlsbad, California, in February, a man who assaulted elder beach-walkers on two different occasions was charged with elder abuse ("Man arrested in assault case," February 1, 2003, www.signonsandiego.com).
• In Milpitas, California, in February, elder abuse was among the charges leveled at a man who broke into an older woman's home and stabbed her ("Milpitas woman stabbed during home break-in," February 27, 2003, The Mercury News, www.bayarea.com).
• In Benton, Missouri, in May, a man who broke into an older woman's house to rape and rob her was also charged with elder abuse ("Hearing delayed for man charged in rape, robbery," May 15, 2003, Standard Democrat, http://news.mywebpal.com).

California is also where a plumbing business that had overcharged a great many of its customers was charged with elder abuse, and where an elder abuse charge was added to a man who pretended to be an insurance salesperson and sold fake insurance policies ("San Joaquin DA Files Suit Against Plumbing Business," January 7, 2003, www.theKCRAChannel.com; "Norco man gets 4 years for insurance swindle," May 23, 2003, The Press-Enterprise, www.pe.com). In yet a third California case, a realtor who sold an older woman's home for far below its market value was also charged with elder abuse ("Realtor gets community support, restraining order", February 15, 2003, Napa News, www.napanews.com).

Elder abuse has also turned up in a second California lawsuit alleging that undertreatment of pain by a physician (and, in this case, a nursing home) constitutes elder abuse ("Suit filed over pain treatment of ill man," March 28, 2003, Contra Costa Times, www.bayarea.com). (For information on the first California suit, which the family won, see http://www.wordbridges.net/elderabuse/interventions/2001-07-01I.html/.)

This extension of the crime of "elder abuse" to cases in which the victim and perpetrator did not have a previous relationship is in direct opposition to the recently-released report by the National Research Council, Elder Mistreatment: Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation in an Aging America (National Academy of Sciences, 2003). That body -- seeking to develop a definition upon which all future research might be conducted -- defined elder abuse as "intentional actions that cause harm to create a serious risk of harm (whether or not harm was intended) to a vulnerable elder by a caregiver or other person who stands in a trust relationship to the elder or failure by a caregiver to satisfy the elder's basic needs or to protect the elder from harm." (p. 1, emphasis added) Obviously, state laws may define elder abuse differently, and, in fact, California's elder abuse law requires only that someone causing pain or mental suffering know that the victim is an elder or dependent adult (same book, p. 185).

Many people in the field of elder abuse believe that the term needs to be confined to situations in which there is an "expectation of trust," a relationship of blood, or when someone is paid to be a caregiver. Others are not so concerned that the definition remain so bounded. What's YOUR opinion? What are the pros and cons of extending "elder abuse" to reach robbers, rapists, and plumbers? Let us know; we'll publish the results in an upcoming AAR. Loree@WordBridges.net