Sheri “Sugar” Vogel, the director of the Southern Nevada Senior Law Program in Las Vegas, said that many cases involve victims who know their abuser, and authorities believe just one out of five cases gets reported. According to Vogel, “Seniors are easy prey.” Many of the abusers are family members or caregivers, she said in an interview for ksl.com, entitled “Prosecutor setting up team to handle elder abuse cases”.
District Attorney Wolfson said that aging people are some of the community’s most vulnerable citizens. Crimes against them can devastate families and have far-reaching effects in the community, he explained.
Crimes can include physical and mental abuse, neglect, isolation and financial exploitation. Criminals might loot a victim’s bank accounts, steal belongings or property, as well as ignore the basic medical needs of seniors. They also will isolate the victim in order to hide the crime.
Nevada classifies elderly people as older than 60.
The District Attorney’s Office prosecution team will be staffed by deputies who will then be able to detect and process elder abuse cases from beginning to end. This new unit is the tenth special prosecutorial team in the Clark County (Las Vegas) District Attorney’s Office. The Office also has teams for special victims and sex crimes, domestic violence, gangs, weapons, vehicular crimes, fraud, bad checks, major violators and drugs.
District Attorney Wolfson believes that giving responsibility for elder abuse cases to these two deputy district attorneys won’t affect his office’s budget.
Reference: ksl.com (November 5, 2015) “Prosecutor setting up team to handle elder abuse cases”
Comments