11/8/2007 By: Joleene Des Rosiers
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The numbers are staggering. Millions of elderly adults are abused every year and only a fraction of them are reported.
Morgan Thurston is an attorney at the Department of Social Services. He says 122 referral calls came in last year, where abuse and neglect of the elderly was alleged.
"We get referrals from banks, sources throughout the community. Doctors, family members, neighbors, " Thurston said.
In Marvin Emmons case, it was two nurses that discovered the abuse.
Detective Dave Buske says they found Emmons sitting up with a broken back.
He was also living in what he calls deplorable conditions, sweltering, and close to heat stroke.
Buske says Thomas stole his money, and would punch him when he refused to give his pin to his ATM card.
Elder abuse problem
Millions of elderly adults are abused every year and only a fraction of them are reported.
"It's horrible! You have an 85-year-old frail, elderly citizen, and essentially, he was cut off with any contact from the outside world,” Buske said.
Now, we know statistically that elder abuse has been going on for a long, long time. And while we may not be able to stop it completely, we can do something about it. And we can start by picking up the phone.
"We take these complaints very seriously,” Buske said. “We investigate them to the fullest extent and when we develop leads and information, we run with it."
"We're generally dealing with a generation, too, that was taught to keep things private. And that is a big issue in trying to get things reported to the community or to Adult protective, or to law enforcement,” said Thurston.
Thomas is being held on bail at the Justice Center on $2,500 cash, $5,000 bond.
SOURCE
----------------------
We can say with certainty, that more of such reports will be seen around the world. We urge everyone to join us in the call for more assistance from governments and the public.
No comments:
Post a Comment