Elder Abuse

Senate Bills * SB 1715 (by Charles M. Calderon, D-Whittier)--Would create a new crime, willful isolation (false imprisonment), of an elder. Would cut abusers out of victim's will. Would require people involved in financial, governmental, charitable and religious organizations to report cases of suspected elder financial abuse they encounter. (Referred to Appropriations Committee.

A sharply divided California Supreme Court, clarifying the duty to care for aged parents, ruled Friday that grown children can be prosecuted for neglect only if they have control over the elder's care. "It means that if you take on the responsibility of caring for your parent, you care for your parent," said Santa Ana attorney Richard Schwartzberg, who represented the defendant in the case before the court. "But you don't have to take on that responsibility."

Two people have been arrested on suspicion of felony elder abuse after the death of an 83-year-old woman who allegedly was kept in horrific conditions and persuaded to sign a loan document before her death. Georgianne Arenson, 47, and Robert Kurt Benson, 54, were arrested Wednesday in the September death of Arenson's mother, Beverly Weeks. Paramedics reported that Weeks had been found covered with feces and suffering from bedsores. Authorities said investigation uncovered a pattern of neglect.

Authorities arrested a woman Friday who they say boarded 22 mentally ill, elderly and other people in prison-like conditions, housing some in converted chicken coops behind razor-wire fences. Pensri Sophar Dalton, 61, was arrested on 16 counts of suspected elder abuse, according to City Atty. James F. Penman. Some of the people appeared to have mental health issues, he said. "The stench was pretty horrific," Penman said. "These were very squalid conditions." The people were being held in dilapidated buildings, some without running water or toilets.

He was 83, lived alone, and his adult son came asking for money. When he refused, the son struck him in the face, leading to 60 stitches. The elderly father declined to press charges. Two elderly sisters signed an agreement with their caregiver that would give him control of their finances when they died. They were taken from his care after authorities discovered their health had deteriorated rapidly.

An Encino man, who was drunk and irate when he beat up his 83-year-old stepfather, was sentenced to six months in jail, Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo announced Friday. Jon Turitz, 46, pleaded no contest to one count of elder abuse during a court appearance on Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Judge Leland Harris also ordered Turitz to serve three years' probation and to obey weapons and protective orders. He was immediately taken to Los Angeles County Jail.

For weeks, 68-year-old William Starkey lay in a bed littered with his own feces, eating so little he lost the ability to walk. Bedsores exposed his hip bones. Authorities said his wife, Shirley, was to blame. On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Ken Riley said there was enough evidence to order the woman to stand trial on a charge of elder abuse, with a special allegation of causing great bodily injury. If convicted, Shirley Starkey, faces a maximum of seven years in prison.

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration deemphasizes state penalties at California nursing homes, Democratic Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer is making a point of using state laws to prosecute nursing home owners and their employees who mistreat frail residents. The state Department of Justice has won convictions against more than 300 nursing home workers dating to 1999, when Lockyer took office. Previous state prosecutors had not focused on elder abuse.

A Lakewood couple were in jail in lieu of $50,000 bail each Thursday in the second case of elder abuse, or neglect, filed by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office within a week. Roger Louis Hummel, 54, and his wife, Cindy Lee Hummel, 31, were formally charged Wednesday in connection with the death of his mother, Otelia Boithillet, 80. She died Saturday after being taken to a hospital from the Lakewood home she shared with the couple, authorities said.