Experts say laws on elder abuse need to do more
By KATE THAYER
ST. CHARLES – Legal experts say elder-abuse laws across the country have developed in recent years in response to an aging population. But some say they need to be stronger.
“We’re seeing more and more of it,” said J. Steven Beckett, a professor at the University of Illinois College of Law. “We may have been a little slow on the uptake as far as amending our criminal code, but we’re moving in the right direction.”
Kane County State’s Attorney John Barsanti said law enforcement could and should do more.
“I think we can do better,” Barsanti said, referencing Illinois’ child-abuse laws that in the early 1990s required counties to have Child Advocacy Centers, which investigate and prosecute crimes against children.
“We need something like [child-abuse laws],” Barsanti said. “I don’t think [the law in Illinois] responds as much to elder abuse as it does to child abuse.”
In Kane County, there is a prosecutor that handles most elder-abuse cases, many involving financial crime.
Barsanti hopes to add to that and promote community outreach.
“We need to be protecting both ends of the spectrum – the very young and the very old,” he said.
Kane County Chronicle
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