Elder Abuse: It Couldn't Happen Here, Could It?

Albert Lea, Minnesota, wouldn't make anybody's Top Ten list of places where this sort of thing could happen. Bigger cities like Chicago, New Orleans, Detroit, maybe, but not Albert Lea.

Nestled against the Interstate, 90 miles south of the Twin Cities, with a population headed south from the current 17,500, it's a place that Minnesotans used to remember as the last pit stop before the Iowa border. Not any more.

Last May 16th, the Albert Lea "Herald" broke the shocking story that 15 residents of the Good Samaritan nursing home, all suffering with Alzheimer's or dementia, had been verbally, emotionally and sexually abused by local high school girls who were working at the facility.

The subsequent report by the Minnesota Department of Health quoted one employee as saying that "When (the students) would do these things, they would pull the curtain enough, so when they heard a door open, they could stop. They were quite sneaky about what they were doing. The ones they were targeting were those that have Alzheimer's so bad, that they wouldn't be able to say it or remember."

The report found that the abuse involved spitting and putting fingers in mouths, poking breasts and nipples, touching and tapping genitals, sticking buttocks in faces, rubbing buttocks and penises, anal insertion, and restraining residents and teasing them.

Following investigations by state and local authorities, a 19-year old and an 18-year old were charged with gross misdemeanors, carrying a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $3,000 fine for each count. One of the teens faces 11 charges; the other, 10, including abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver, abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, disorderly conduct, and failing to report suspected maltreatment. Four of the others, all 17 at the time of the alleged abuse, were charged in juvenile court with failure to report maltreatment.

The case captured the attention of the national media, including the "Today" show on NBC, and the Associated Press circulated the story widely. Typing "Albert Lea Nursing Home" into the Google search engine produces more than 45,000 hits. How could teenagers from this nondescript Minnesota town emotionally, physically and sexually abuse these harmless, helpless people-and then, as the story claimed, laugh about it? Unheard of, you say? Hardly.

Seven months later, another lurid story of elder abuse stunned the residents of tiny Montevideo, Minnesota.

In this case, according to a state department of health report, the nursing home aide stuck her finger in the cancerous vulva of a resident until she screamed, dropped another resident on her bed from four feet away feet, and tossed on the floor stuffed toys that a third resident thought were her children.

The report also revealed that the aide gave lap dances to two male residents and bared her breasts to one or more of them. Sadly, as a recent "Newsweek" magazine article reported, charges against the aide are unlikely "because the victims' dementia limits their ability to testify."

Indeed, people suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's are perfect victims, and not merely the most likely targets for abuse in a nursing home: family members can abuse them as well.

As the population ages, there is a corresponding increase in the number of those who can be victimized because of their age, vulnerabilities or familly relationships.

Perhaps in response to the appalling cases of nursing home abuse in her home state, Ramsey County (St. Paul) Attorney Susan Gaertner recently announced the creation of an elder abuse task force to prosecute these cases.

In making her announcement, prosecutor Gaertner cited recent examples of the kinds of elder abuse the unit will target:

A legally blind woman asked her bank to put her son's name on her personal checks so that he could pay her bills. Instead, the son drained her bank account of more than $45,000. The woman learned of the theft only when her phone was disconnected, her medical insurance was disconnected, and her Meals on Wheels deliveries stopped.

Another woman gave her daughter power of attorney to pay her nursing home bills when a series of strokes left her disabled. The daughter bilked her mother of almost $22,000.

An elderly man, disabled by Parkinson's Disease, had assets that disqualified him for Medicaid coverage of his nursing home expenses. He enlisted his nephew to select a Realtor to sell his home and pay his bills. Within two months, the nephew had looted the accounts and failed to pay the costs of the nursing home. The uncle was evicted and left homeless. The nephew could not be located.

The St. Paul elder abuse unit will comprise two specially-trained prosecutors to review the facts and make charging decisions; four trial attorneys to prosecute the cases; and a victim/witness advocate.

The focus will be on crimes involving physical and sexual abuse of the elderly, financial exploitation and scams aimed at the elderly.

Prosecutor Gaertner recognizes the impact that changing demographics will have on her caseload, particularly the spike in population that will result from aging Boomers. "We will be seeing dramatic growth in this vulnerable population," Gaertner says. "The baby boomers are going to be moving into this age group. They tend to be wealthier and live longer than the generations before and so we anticipate more and more of these kinds of cases."

A second, equally powerful reason for creating the unit is the deepening recession that has devastated the American economy. As Gaertner observes, "There's going to be more and more of a temptation to exploit the financial resources of the elderly when their offspring or other younger relatives are losing their jobs and facing other economic problems."

Although Gaertner cannot forecast the potential number of cases that will be developed by this new unit, she says "our sense is that we're talking about dozens of cases in the coming year."

The unit's attorneys also will work with police, the St. Paul city attorney's office, social service agencies and advocacy groups. An important component will be public education and awareness, Gaertner notes.

During her previous service as Hennepin County attorney, Senator Amy Klobuchar established an elder abuse unit, which continues to focus on financial exploitation, identity theft and abuse cases.

Gaertner asks, "Is there anything worse than stealing Grandma's money so she can't get medication or eat properly? That's why we feel so strongly about doing this work."

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