Three Women Charged with Financially Abusing Senior Who Was Made to Live in Shack without Plumbing
Three women were placed in jail earlier this month after they were accused of committing elder abuse. The defendants are 70-year-old Minni Lee Jeff, 64-year-old Maudeine Mayer, and 37-year-old Angela Townsend.
Jeff is accused of forcing Elija Earl, a 78-year-old man, to live in a shed in her yard. The shed had no plumbing. Jeff was Earl’s caregiver and had been given power of attorney to care for him. She allegedly committed financial elder abuse, spending the majority of the $160,000 he received from a 2005 train accident and placing the remaining funds in her account. Very little of the settlement is believed to have gone toward Earl’s care.
The elder abuse incidents involving Earl reportedly go back a few years when, after the train derailment, Jeff took charge of Earl’s care. The Department of Social Services discovered that Jeff was residing in the shed and moved him to a nursing home. In 2007, Jeff took over Earl's care once more. That was the year that Earl received his train accident settlement.
Earl’s elder abuse case came to light again this year when investigators demanded that Jeff account for Earl's money. A judge sent her to jail earlier this month when she was unable to provide the requested information about her finances.
Police went to retrieve Earl and place him in protective custody but Mayer, who is Jeff’s sister, and Townsend, who is Mayer’s daughter, had taken him with them. They claimed they had just gone out for ice cream but did not bring him to police even though they said they would. They refused to answer the deputies’ phone calls.
Earl was finally placed in protective custody after the women met with investigators and police took them in. Both women are charged with obstruction.
Financial abuse is another form of caregiver abuse that could lead to criminal charges against the person committing the abuse, as well as compel the victim’s family to file a Chicago elder abuse lawsuit.
Some Examples of Financial Abuse:
• Using someone else’s name to obtain a credit card.
• Abusing a power of attorney to take money out of someone’s bank account.
• Pressuring someone to give gifts and money in exchange for services, companionship, or care.
• Taking advantage of someone who isn’t able to make decisions and getting them to give money or make purchases.
Women charged in elder abuse, Aikenstandard.com, May 14, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Elder Financial Abuse, CentralCalLegal.org
Contact our Chicago nursing home abuse law firm about your case.
