Husband, wife are first arrested under county Elder Abuse Task Force.
By Chris Parker Of The Morning Call
November 30, 2007
A Pottsville couple befriended an elderly man at his church in 2001 and two years later had convinced him to name them as financial guardians.But it wasn't long, state Attorney General Tom Corbett said, before Catherine M. and Robert Whitney moved into then-76-year-old Louis V. Long's Mahanoy City home and began siphoning more than $84,000 -- some of it to buy a sport utility vehicle -- from his bank accounts.Long died in March 2006.Catherine, 57, and Robert Whitney, 56, of 718 Mahantango St., were charged Thursday by the Attorney General's Elder Abuse Unit with seven counts of theft by unlawful taking and one count of criminal conspiracy.
The crimes are third-degree felonies punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine.The couple turned themselves in, were arraigned before District Judge James Reiley of Pottsville and released on $75,000 unsecured bail.The case will be prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Anthony Forray.''Sadly, Pennsylvania seniors often suffer at the hands of those entrusted with their care,'' Corbett said. ''The Whitneys duped an elderly man into trusting them and then took advantage of that trust in order to pad their bank accounts.''
Long, Corbett says, had no family in the area. After gaining his trust, the Whitneys obtained power of attorney in 2003.According to the criminal complaint, in the spring of 2004, Long was diagnosed with the early stages of dementia, and Catherine Whitney soon began to pay herself $700 a week from Long's account to care for him.By September 2004, she had moved into Long's home to take care of him, giving herself a pay raise to $1,000 a week, Corbett said.The Whitney's took more than $84,000 of Long's money from July 2003 to February 2006, Corbett said in a press release Thursday.
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