Elder Abuse

The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has filed torture and elder abuse charges against a former employee of an upscale assisted-living facility in Calabasas. Cesar Ulloa, 20, of Reseda was charged Monday after an investigation into the suspicious death of an 80-year-old resident of the facility. Elmore Kittower's body was exhumed last year after a whistle-blower said he had been the victim of foul play. After a nearly yearlong investigation, Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide detectives arrested Ulloa on suspicion of beating Kittower shortly before he died.

Police and the Los Angeles County district attorney's office have joined the investigation into the possible financial exploitation of an heiress by a Hollywood business manager. Detectives from Palos Verdes Estates, where 87-year-old Susan Strong Davis lives, met with prosecutors in the district attorney's elder abuse unit Thursday to discuss potential criminal aspects in the handling of her finances. The management of her affairs by John E. Larkin, a veteran entertainment money manager, was already the subject of a probe by social workers from the county's Adult Protective Services.

A Chatsworth woman was arrested on suspicion of elder abuse after authorities found her 85-year-old mother, who later died, covered head to toe in her own waste, a Los Angeles police spokeswoman said Sunday. Belinda Feldman, 54, was arrested at the home she shared with her mother. Elise Glatstein died 11 hours after authorities took her to a hospital. Police went to the house in the 21900 block of Dupont Street on Saturday after receiving a call about Glatstein. Officers found her in her bedroom in "very poor condition," Officer Karen Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department said.

The recent conviction of a Delray Beach, Fla., loan officer for his participation in a scheme to persuade seniors to refinance their reverse mortgages should serve as a warning to the friends and relatives of elderly people about the surprising ease with which senior homeowners can be exploited. That the loan officer and his co-conspirators, including a title agent, were creating false loan applications and pocketing the money casts a pall over the lending business. And with good reason, according to the National Council on Aging, which ranks homeowner/reverse mortgage scams as the eighth most prevalent scam specifically targeting seniors.

Helen Jones sits in a wheelchair, surrounded by strangers who control her life. She is not allowed to answer the telephone. Her mail is screened. She cannot spend her own money. A child of the Depression, Jones, 87, worked hard for decades, driving rivets into World War II fighter planes, making neckties, threading bristles into nail-polish brushes. She saved obsessively, putting away $560,000 for her old age.

A former employee of an upscale retirement home accused of physically assaulting four vulnerable residents was convicted Thursday of torture and elder abuse. Jurors deliberated about five hours before finding Cesar Ulloa guilty of all eight counts against him. As the verdict was read, the 21-year-old Reseda resident stared straight ahead without showing any emotion. Ulloa, who had a bruise on his right eye that he said was the result of being attacked by half a dozen inmates in jail over the weekend, faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced in May. According to witnesses, Ulloa, a low-level employee, often laughed as he viciously attacked residents.

The recent conviction of a Delray Beach, Fla., loan officer for his participation in a scheme to persuade seniors to refinance their reverse mortgages should serve as a warning to the friends and relatives of elderly people about the surprising ease with which senior homeowners can be exploited. That the loan officer and his co-conspirators, including a title agent, were creating false loan applications and pocketing the money casts a pall over the lending business. And with good reason, according to the National Council on Aging, which ranks homeowner/reverse mortgage scams as the eighth most prevalent scam specifically targeting seniors.

Re "Making 'Death With Dignity' Reality," Nov. 30. Terminally ill, elderly patients do not need "death with dignity" as much as life with dignity. Too often health-care providers view the very sick, older patient as an inappropriate recipient of life-sustaining medical treatment. Many doctors and nurses, young and healthy themselves, do not appreciate that for some of these patients (as well as those who deeply love them) several more months of a physically restricted life is decidedly preferable to no life at all. As consumers, we must not allow the medical community to make a one-size-fits-all judgment about the potential quality of life that could be afforded to these patients.

A 93-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor and suspected victim of elder abuse was found disoriented, dehydrated and living in filth at his home near El Cajon this week, clutching his prized possession: a picture of the ship that he was serving on the day of the Japanese attack. Arnold V. Bauer, suffering from dementia and prostate cancer, was taken to the Veterans Affairs hospital in San Diego, authorities said. Bauer's caretaker for the last three years, Milagros Angeles, 63, pleaded not guilty Thursday to four felony counts of elder abuse, theft, forgery and false imprisonment.

Re "Brooke Astor's son guilty of looting the socialite's estate," Oct. 9 Now that the elder-abuse trial of society grand dame Brooke Astor's son is over, I am left contemplating the lessons demonstrated by her sad and sordid story: Being rich won't protect you from elder abuse; being famous won't protect you from elder abuse; having famous friends won't protect you from elder abuse. In America, the country that loves youth and beauty, it is not surprising, but still lamentable, that we don't have any comprehensive federal legislation focused on elder abuse.

While Jesse Bravo was being treated for schizophrenia at White Memorial Medical Center last year, his wife, Laura, called the hospital daily and visited him several times. But when hospital officials decided to discharge him, Laura Bravo said, they didn't notify her and instead left him outside a rehabilitation center in South Los Angeles. She said her husband, who is not homeless, never went inside and spent days on the streets before being found. "Not knowing where he was was very scary," she said.

Reporting from Madera, Calif. -- 'Don't leave me," Stephanie Hernandez implored, as she fumbled with her cellphone to dial 911. "I need you. I need you. " Hernandez had just changed her great-aunt's diaper and was coaxing her to take a sip of water when Maria "Concha" Lopez, 91, stopped breathing. CPR was out of the question, Hernandez told the emergency dispatcher: "She's too fragile. We could break her, her bones. " The dispatcher talked the distraught 26-year-old through the basics of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

The family of Pearl Harbor survivor Arnold Bauer said in a statement Monday that they "thought he was in good hands" and trusted his caregiver. Bauer's caregiver is charged with felony counts of elder abuse, forgery, theft and false imprisonment. Bauer, 93, who has dementia and prostate cancer, is in the Veterans Affairs hospital in La Jolla. "We are deeply shocked and concerned about the care our father has been receiving," Bauer's daughter said in remarks released on behalf of the family.

A 93-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor and suspected victim of elder abuse was found disoriented, dehydrated and living in filth at his home near El Cajon this week, clutching his prized possession: a picture of the ship that he was serving on the day of the Japanese attack. Arnold V. Bauer, suffering from dementia and prostate cancer, was taken to the Veterans Affairs hospital in San Diego, authorities said. Bauer's caretaker for the last three years, Milagros Angeles, 63, pleaded not guilty Thursday to four felony counts of elder abuse, theft, forgery and false imprisonment.

A checklist for holiday visits Things that could indicate a problem, according to Mary Twomey, co-director of the Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse & Neglect: Confusion Depression Inability to handle meal preparation, house cleaning, laundry, bathing or timely bill payment Overusing drugs or drinking too much Frequent falls Undernourishment, dehydration or signs of under-medication ...

Jane Fickling lives in Dallas, but with the holiday looming, she undertook a cross-country decorating job in Orange County. Armed with a Christmas tree, a nutcracker, a poinsettia and some other seasonal favorites, Fickling swept into her 95-year-old father's apartment last week to add a little holiday cheer. "He's always so happy when I come," says Fickling, a Delta Airlines employee. "And I'm happy to be with him. The Christmas decorations were a plus for both of us. " Her dad, Burtis Taylor, lives in Regents Point, a retirement community in Irvine.

Abuse and neglect of senior citizens in Orange County will be the subject of a conference on April 18 at Irvine Civic Center. The conference's purpose is to educate the community about how to detect signs of elder abuse, a crime that has increased about 56% in Orange County since 1990, said Jack Light, assistant program manager for Orange County Adult Protective Services Agency. Speakers will be William G.