Reader Asks : Why We at E.A. Block Victims' Names Out

Letters To Editor Revised 12-3-07

RAY, IF YOU BLOCK OUT THE ADDRESS WHERE ONE CAN RESPOND OR EVEN VERIFIED THAT THIS IS INDEED AN ARTICLE WHICH WAS BEEN POSTED, YOU ARE DEFEATING THE PURPOSE OF FURTHER EXPOSURE OF OTHER CASES…

I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO SEND ME THE ADDRESS WHERE I COULD WRITE PEOPLE THAT WRITE IN WITH ALLEGATIONS OF ABUSE, SO I CAN PASS IT ON TO SEVERAL OTHER PEOPLE…


Dear E. A. Reader,

To fully answer your question as to why I am hesitant to identify elder abuse victims that write to me and I block out their particulars, the answer is a compound one.

Elder Abuse is the most unreported crime, only small percentages of elder abuse victims actually go public, once you publish your name and address as an elder abuse victim, this is a kin to jumping in a pool of sharks with blood oozing from an arm.

That is the reason that for the most part you find out about elder abuse after the fact, (when you have a body). As you well know elder abusers are people who will stop at nothing, and the sad fact is that most people are afraid of them and the pain they are capable of inflicting.

First, keep in mind that the general consensus among victims is, that current laws protect the perpetrators more so than the abused victims, so when you go public you are setting yourself up for reprisals from the perpetrators, and one of the many ways they can retaliate is by filing false complaints against you, most adult protective agencies have no limit on the number of complaints, false or otherwise that can be filed, and must investigate each complaint made on the hot line. The laws that are in place to deal with false complaints are not enforced, in fact, we have never heard of anyone prosecuted for filing false complaints!

The DCF, and other law enforcement agents get paid to investigate, and that is just what they must do!
In Clara's case, we have had so many false complaints filed against us that I've lost count. Even a single complaint can take months to investigate, and you will have to deal with it.

And reprisals like this are not limited, when we went public with allegations of Elder Abuse against our family member, we had false complaints files against us 1st) DCF , 2ND) in Civil Court, 3rd) FDA, and 4)Th, the Tampa Postal Police.

In other words, the victim and the victim's family's lives can be made a living hell.

Next, police are not given specialized training in how to deal with Elder Abuse or Elder Financial Abuse, and do not recognize it, unless there are obvious signs such as (bruises).

Today's Elder Abusers are not your average thieves, they know well how to inflict pain in many ways that does not leave any tell tale marks, torture, such as psychological abuse, isolation, and drugging are much more effective ways to inflict pain, suffering, and confusion.

The authorities are "ill trained" to detect this type of torture.

Once you have identified yourself as a victim of elder abuse, you are inviting the courts to take over the victim's estate.
If the injuries of the abused are serious enough to warrant incapacitation, then the courts can appoint a guardian.
This can be done without any input from the family, my mother has had five or six (6) court appointed guardians, (I'm starting to lose count), temporary or otherwise, and the last two (2) that were attorneys, were chosen without any input from the family.
And guess what? - ( Just the fact that the guardian is an attorney automatically qualifies him/her.)

Lastly, once the court appointed guardian garnishes the income stream, even if there are no factual accusations of wrongdoing against the victim's family, ( remember, the perpetrator's main goal is to discredit the legitimate caregivers with slanderous accusations), and the legitimate caregiver/family will have to take care of the elder on very little funds allotted by the guardian or no funds at all for an undetermined period of time or until the court decides otherwise, or the Elders funds are depleted, which ever comes first and the tax payers take over the expense of maintaining the elder in their state.

I hope that I have helped to clear up why. According to experts of Elder Abuse and Elder Financial Abuse is the most "unreported crime of our times" and is often referred to in the media as "The Silent Crime."

Ray Fernandez, Senior editor of ElderAbuseHelp.Org