Recently in Elderly Abuse Category

March 11, 2011

Maryland Heights, Missouri Nurse Arrested and Charged with Elder Abuse

A nursing home employee was arrested for abusing a resident of the home in Maryland Heights, Missouri in St. Louis County.

116318_old_folks.jpgAccording to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch news brief, the nurse scratched a patient's face several times after becoming angry with the patient. The patient was 72 years old at the time of the assault.

The arrested nurse was charged with third degree elder abuse, a class A misdemeanor.

A National Center on Elder Abuse report stated that between 1 and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been injured or exploited in some way by a caretaker. In domestic settings, only 1 in 14 of these incidents are reported to police.

Among the types of abuse reported in the study were nursing home neglect, gross abuse, self-neglect, financial exploitation and physical abuse.

Signs of elder abuse include bruises, pressure marks, broken bones, sudden changes in financial situation, bedsores, strained relationships and frequent arguments. The NCEA recommends that people keep an eye out for the warning signs to make sure their loved ones are being treated well.

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April 30, 2010

Trenton Man Behind $1.9 Million Scam Targeting Elderly

The man behind a Ponzi scheme that reportedly cheated senior citizens out of close to $1.9 million plead guilty this month. Lavern Huelsmann, 44, a licensed insurance agent, had convinced elderly people to invest in a "cash management account" under the company he ran, Senior Retirement Services. He then turned around and used those investments to build and decorate his Trenton home, gamble and make extravagant jewelry purchases.

Huelsmann will face sentencing on July 10 and is currently facing up to 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $500,000, and three years of supervised release and mandatory restitution according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

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