Assistant Kenton County Attorney Ken Easterling to be Honored for Fighting Elder Abuse

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The Northern Kentucky Elder Maltreatment Alliance planned to honor Assistant Kenton County Attorney Ken Easterling this morning for aggressively prosecuting cases of elder abuse and for otherwise advocating for older persons.

Easterling has been in the news lately because of his investigation of complaints against Villaspring of Erlanger nursing home, but the award was in the works before that investigation became public last week, said Pat Schneider, chair of education and public relations for the Elder Maltreatment Alliance.

She said the award recognizes Easterling's work on several cases now in the court system.

She would not identify any of the cases. But one notable case handled by the county attorney's office last year involved a Fort Wright couple who befriended an 85-year-old woman and were charged with spending her money to buy a house, an SUV, expensive furniture and vacations for themselves while the woman lived in a windowless room in the basement.

Schneider said Easterling provides legal advice to the Adult Protection Services office and is active in developing and pursuing cases.

"Ken has shown a real passion, a real readiness to take on issues with senior crimes," said Schneider. "He really understands these are hidden crimes, and they need to be dealt with. Ken has been aggressive from the pursuing the prosecution standpoint."

The Northern Kentucky Elder Maltreatment Alliance was to present Easterling with a recognition certificate at its meeting this morning at the Northern Kentucky Area Development District office in Florence.