Attorney General Mike DeWine formed a new Elder Justice Initiative within the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to increase the investigation and prosecution of elder abuse cases and improve victims’ access to services.
The office’s Crime Victim Services Section spearheads the initiative, which also draws on the expertise and services of the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and Consumer Protection, Health Care Fraud, and Special Prosecutions sections.
“Older Ohioans are vulnerable to abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation for a number of reasons,” Attorney General DeWine said. “Through the Elder Justice Initiative, the Attorney General’s Office will work with local officials and advocates to identify, investigate, and prosecute elder abuse cases and to increase services to victims.”
Elder abuse can take the form of physical, sexual, verbal, and emotional abuse; neglect, including abandonment; and financial exploitation, including exerting undue influence.
A Department of Justice study estimated in 2009 that about one in nine people age 60 and older suffers abuse each year. For every one case reported to authorities, it is believed five more go unreported. A study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, also in 2009, found victims of elder abuse have a 300 percent higher risk of death than individuals not subject to abuse.
Recent and current cases within the Attorney General’s Office illustrate the type of work the initiative encompasses:
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A Preble County attorney was found guilty of stealing money from four clients who are elderly or have disabilities. James Thomas Jr., 38, of Brookville, pled no contest when charged with three counts of theft from an elderly person or adult with disabilities and three counts of falsification. The charges followed a BCI investigation revealing that Thomas withdrew more than $208,000 from the four individuals’ bank accounts between 2007 and 2013.
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Virgen Caraballo was sentenced in 2012 to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to seven counts of patient abuse for severely mishandling an elderly patient. The Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Section, which investigates patient abuse and neglect in care facilities, handled the investigation. The Elder Justice Initiative team can investigate and prosecute such incidents in home settings.
Reports of possible abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of an elderly Ohioan can be made to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office by calling 800-282-0515 or visiting
www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.