A recent McHenry County grand jury indictment against an employee of the Valley Hi Nursing Home spotlights a problem experienced by a growing number of senior citizens: reports of abuse at the hands of those who care for them.
Vincent O. Millare, 31, of Woodstock was indicted on charges of battery and abuse of a long-term health care facility resident after an April 28 incident at the county’s nursing home in rural Woodstock. Millare, accused of punching a 76-year-old woman in the face and chest, has been suspended from his position as a certified nursing assistant pending disciplinary action.
“The victim did have visible injuries that she did not have prior to having contact with the offender,” said McHenry County Sheriff’s Lt. Gene Lowery.
In any given month in McHenry County, Senior Services Associates Inc. handles 30 to 35 cases of elder abuse, said Marty King, the agency’s protective services coordinator.
The agency added six cases of elder abuse in April, eight in March and five in February, King said.
Cases of elder abuse, though, generally are underreported, said Lowery, who added that they nevertheless are a priority.
“It’s a lot like abusing a child,” Lowery added. “Some of these seniors have no one to protect them or are not able to protect themselves. The system has to take a proactive approach.”
According to studies by the National Center on Elder Abuse, the number of reports of abuse against seniors has increased from 117,000 in 1986 to 293,000 in 1996.
The term “senior abuse” can conjure up images of cases such as the one at Valley Hi–where a senior is physically attacked–it also includes neglect, deprivation and financial exploitation.
Many of the cases handled by Senior Services, which serves the elderly in McHenry, Kane and Kendall Counties, are financial exploitation.
“That runs true in all counties,” King said. “Quite often even if it wasn’t one of the (original) allegations, someone still might be involved with misuse of funds.”
McHenry County has had its share of high-profile exploitation cases.
Financial adviser David Freitag, of Cary, pleaded guilty May 15 to theft by deception, securities fraud and financial exploitation of the elderly and was sentenced to 12 years in state prison for taking money from friends and family that was meant to be invested and using it to pay off other clients.
Freitag is serving a 6-year federal sentence for admitting to charges of mail fraud and bankruptcy fraud.
On Tuesday, Frank Wilhelm of McHenry is scheduled to go to trial on a charge of deceptive practice–for allegedly cashing a $200 check on an account he jointly held with his mother after a court had frozen the account–and three counts of theft by deception, for allegedly cashing checks made out to his mother in May 1996.
While family members often exploit elderly relatives, seniors are also targeted for phone, mail or home-repair scams that can result in the loss of thousands of dollars.
King said today’s seniors are of a more trusting generation and will not hang up the phone when called, or do not have many family or friends and welcome the chance to talk with someone on the phone or receive mail.
“They are a very vulnerable population,” King said. “They are less able to do things for themselves. They can’t get out, they can’t hear as well, can’t see as well.”
To prevent being a victim of a scam, seniors should not open their door to someone they do not know and should not give personal information over the phone, King said.
