Rise in elder abuse cases in Greater Geelong
A local legal service has seen a “significant increase” in elderly residents seeking help for abuse as offenders target the most vulnerable members of our community.
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Adult children are threatening and stealing money from their own parents amid a spike in older residents seeking legal support for elder abuse as offenders target our community’s most vulnerable.
Barwon Community Legal Service (BCLS) has revealed a “significant increase” in the number of older people receiving help for family violence matters.
The service’s community development manager, Alexandria Jones, said, in many cases elder abuse was a form of family violence with the perpertrator often an adult child or related to the victim.
The service deals with civil elder abuse matters.
While there is no legislated definition of elder abuse, it is an act that causes harm to an older person and come in many forms; financial, emotional, physical or neglect.
“We have seen an approximately 22 per cent increase in older people receiving assistance for family violence intervention order matters compared to this time last year,” she said.
Recent data, collected by BCLS over three years, found family violence matters was the most common legal problem older people in the Barwon region presented to the service for.
Seniors Rights Victoria, a leading organisation tackling elder abuse, revealed in its 2021-2022 annual report that Greater Geelong had the highest number of older residents (17) contacting the organisation to report abuse, followed by Darebin (15) and Moreland (15).
More than 3500 Victorians contacted the service last financial year.
The data also found 18 per cent of elder abuse was emotional and psychological, and another 18 per cent was financial.
Ms Jones said the most common form of elder abuse reported to BCLS was financial, often involving “complex credit card issues” and debt issues”.
Many older residents can be hesitant to reach out for help.
“Two thirds of older people don’t seek help when they are being abused,” Ms Jones said.
“In our experience, many older people are reluctant to seek legal assistance due to the high risk of losing family relationships. This can influence their decision to take action, or not.”
Respect Victoria chief executive officer Emily Maguire said older people can face stigma and isolation when experiencing abuse or trying to seek support.
“Only around 1 in 3 older people who experience elder abuse seek help or advice,” she said.
“Whether we are 9 or 90, we all deserve to be safe and respected.
“By dealing with the discrimination that older people face, we can take steps towards preventing elder abuse from happening.”
See some of the shocking elder abuse matters exposed in court:
Ben Cotter
A Geelong man spent $45,000 of his elderly mother’s money on online dating.
Ben Cotter pleaded guilty in January this year to making several large payments on his mother’s credit card between October 2020 and April 2021 while he was living with her and assisting her with healthcare needs.
Cotter was using the money on the “online relationships” he turned to during the pandemic.
Magistrate Franz Holzer said it was “disgraceful behaviour.”
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Mr Holzer said.
“It’s effectively a breach of trust.”
Katarina Sluga
A Geelong woman pleaded guilty in July last year for failing to provide adequate care to her elderly mother.
Police attended a welfare check at an address in Geelong after neighbours reported a smell of decay.
Officers found Katarina Sluga’s mother, Lidia, inside.
She was underweight and suffering from pressure sores.
Had she continued to go without medical intervention, the County Court of Victoria heard Sluga’s mother would have died.
Police found the house in a dipleated state with rubbish bags and faeces on the floor.
The court heard Sluga was the sole person responsible for her mother’s declining health.
During the majority of her caring role, Sluga kept her mother on a regular diet, had installed a bed so she could sleep next to her on the floor and was awake every two hours to turn her.
However, as her mother became sicker, Sluga failed to find external care.
She told police this was because of her mother’s wishes to die in her own home, but Judge Sandra Davis said this meant she “lost insight” into what her caring responsibilities should have included.
Ashley Griffiths
A Colac man threatened to shoot his own mother in the head after an argument about where he would live.
Askely Griffiths pleaded guilty in February this year to making threats to kill and possessing drugs of dependence, being cannabis and methamphetamine, and breaching a community corrections order.
The Geelong Magistrates Court heard Griffiths and his mother were arguing about the possibility of an older brother moving back into the house.
He told his mother he believed he would be kicked out of the house if his brother moved in.
The argument escalated before Griffiths told her he wanted to “cut her throat” and “shoot her in the head” with guns he alleged belonged to a family member.
Deniel Bee
A Geelong man swindled more than $63,000 out of his father’s popular music shop.
Deniel Bee pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates Court in January this year to stealing the money from Music Workshop Geelong between June 2016 and June 2019 by redeeming customer credits for cash, competing second cash-ups of the store and having customers deposit into his account.
His father, Greg Bee, said he never wanted his son to go to jail but “hoped he would learn his lesson and go on to a happy future”.
“I’m just so disappointed in what he’s done while he was working here and betraying me over so many years.”
Lakeisha O’Toole
A Geelong woman punched and spat on an elderly man during a brutal assault at the Moorabool St bus exchange.
Lakeisha O’Toole pleaded guilty in September last year to assaulting an 85-year-old man. She was not convicted of any charges.
In August 2021, O’Toole was sitting on the ground at the bus stop with a friend while the elderly man read the timetable.
She began to argue with the man about him standing in front of the timetable before she stood up, walked over to him and spat in his face.
O’Toole then kicked the victim’s trolley, spat at him again and threw five to seven punches before the bus arrived.
Benjamin Cazaly
A Geelong man almost blinded an elderly woman after pouring cleaning products over her head.
Benjamin Cazaly pleaded guilty in March last year to recklessly causing serious injury, common assault and obtaining property by deception,
The Geelong County Court heard Cazaly had been living on the 71-year-old victim’s couch and was relying on her for transportation before the attack in January 2020.
Cazaly began pouring liquid on the victim’s head including alcohol, cordial and milk before turning to cleaning products typically used on floors.Despite sustaining an initial loss of vision, Cazaly ordered the victim to drive him to Torquay for a swim and poked at her with a large stick breaking the skin on her face.
Cazaly also took the woman’s credit cards and purchased items valued at $109 from McDonalds and local supermarkets.
Tarn Tromans
A Geelong man verbally abused and assaulted an elderly man in Curlewis.
Tarn Tromans pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates Court in May 2022 to assaulting his victim.
An argument escalated between Tarn Tromans and the victim, who was in his 70s.
Tromans grabbed the man by the ears and threw him onto the ground.
When the victim attempted to get up, Tromans again pushed him to the ground.
His defence lawyer told the court that Tromans, who has recently started a career in real estate across Geelong, has significant anger management issues and “poor decisions get the best of him”.
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Originally published as Rise in elder abuse cases in Greater Geelong
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