Political opponents come together over alleged elder abuse case
By Sam Strangeways
October 7. 2008
The Cabinet Minister responsible for seniors is to meet with his Opposition counterpart after she claimed she forced him to act to help an alleged elder abuse victim.
Culture and Social Rehabilitation Minister Dale Butler and Shadow Health and Seniors Minister Louise Jackson will sit down tomorrow to discuss how a new law aimed at protecting old people from harm could be strengthened.
The Senior Abuse Register Act 2008 came into effect in March — but Mrs. Jackson said at the weekend that the latest case of alleged abuse, involving a 75-year-old mentally impaired woman, showed it was "full of holes".
Mr. Butler stepped in last week to help the woman, Miss C, who has allegedly been abused by two men in her own home.
He ordered his staff at the National Office for Seniors and the Physically Challenged (NOSPC) to explore every legal avenue after Police said they were powerless to act. A protection order was ultimately obtained from a judge banning the two men from Miss C's home.
Mrs. Jackson said on Sunday night that Mr. Butler only put his foot down at her insistence, adding that the exact same thing happened in the case of 96-year-old alleged elder abuse victim "Auntie Em". She claimed the authorities had known about Miss C's situation for more than a year.
"The only way I got anything done with both cases was to call the Minister after months of inaction and literally threaten exposure," she said.
Mr. Butler issued a statement last night insisting that Government had taken "significant steps to address senior abuse in Bermuda" including bringing in the new law.
Abridged
SOURCE: The Royal Gazette Bermuda
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