The population of people over 60 is rising—and so are the numbers of cases of abuse of elderly people. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler reports says the state has been struggling to deal with those cases and try to prevent more of these crimes from happening.
Elder abuse can be physical, emotional or financial. And while more than 13,000 cases were reported in Ohio during the last fiscal year, some experts estimate the real numbers could be over 100,000. And for the victims, it’s humiliating, soul-crushing and catastrophic.
Ramona Wilson knows that all too well. The 83-year-old woman runs a Christian outreach mission from her Columbus home, and tells a story of meeting a younger man named Charles Sellers in her church in 2005. Within months they had married, and he started taking money from her.
When he went missing in 2006, she didn’t know what to do—so she called the police. That brought to her door David Kessler, an elder abuse investigator with the Attorney General’s office.
Here are Ramona Wilson and David Kessler in their own words describing how their relationship blossomed in 2006, when Kessler knocked on her door and asked her if she had time to make him a cup of coffee so they could talk.
“I was thinking, come on, let’s drink this coffee, I’ve got things planned. I had two cars running in my garage, and my plan was to go out and kill myself,” Wilson says. “God sent him in right at the nick of time. Had it been five minutes later, I would not have answered that door. It’s a devastating time, and had Dave Kessler not came at the moment that he came, I wouldn’t be sitting here today. I’m grateful to him. I owe him my life.”
Kessler jumps in. “And what you’re hearing here is so, so unique, because our victims suffer in silence. She would have suffered in the ultimate silence – she would have taken her own life,” Kessler says. “And it’s so powerful to have an elderly person come out and say, ‘You know what? I’m not stupid, I’m not dumb. You shouldn’t blame me for my victimization.’ You wouldn’t blame a sexual assault victim for their victimization. You wouldn’t blame a homicide person for their victim. We don’t blame that small child for their victimization. So why would you ever blame this wonderful lady for marrying someone and that relationship was all based on fraud to get into her bank account?”
Charles Sellers was eventually caught and prosecuted, and ordered to prison and to pay Ramona Wilson more than $14,000 in restitution. But he’s been released and has left the state. How much has he paid her back?
“Six dollars,” Wilson says.
The elder abuse unit David Kessler worked for in the AG’s office was dissolved several years ago, and Kessler is now with the Fairfield County Prosecutor’s Office. But he also operates a website called protectingtheelderly.com. He says 90 percent of the cases he works on involve elderly victims being scammed by people they know and trust. And with the state’s heroin and prescription painkillers at epidemic levels, elderly people are easy targets.
“In our society, what group of people historically have their homes paid off, have nest eggs, get monies in every month from Social Security or pensions?” Kessler says. “And then what grandmother would be willing to say, ‘You know what, Mr. Kessler? It’s my grandson. Go ahead and investigate him and put him in the penitentiary.'”
The AG’s office says it has an elder justice initiative that seeks to educate seniors, caretakers and family members about elder abuse. The AG's office says it can work with local officials to investigate and prosecute scammers when they’re found.
The budget that passed the House has $3.5 million per year for elder protective services, which includes about $30,000 for each of Ohio’s 88 counties. But advocates say that’s not enough to hire a full time caseworker or investigator, so they’re working with senators to try to get that increased.