Elder Abuse on the Rise in Ohio

Dec. 01--THE PLAINS, Ohio -- Neighbors in this small Athens County community are asking themselves what they could have done to help an elderly brother and sister who were found living in a filthy garage without a bathroom and running water.

If only they had known, said some, sharing a thought that arises thousands of times a year in Ohio in cases of neglect of the elderly. The 6,604 reports of elderly self-neglect, such as this one, in the fiscal year ending June 30 were more than double the 3,262 cases of neglect of the elderly by others in the same period, according to state data.

"I feel sad," said Shirley Slater, 78, a retired Ohio University professor who walks through her neighborhood in The Plains every day for exercise. "You hate to think about that happening to anyone."

Someone in the community of about 3,000 residents must have suspected that something was wrong, for it was an anonymous call to county Sheriff Pat Kelly's office on Nov. 23 that brought help.

The caller asked that someone check on the well-being of an 88-year-old woman and her 73-year-old brother. They had been living in their garage on W. 2nd Street since their house next door burned down about two years ago, Kelly said last week.

Deputy Mike Burba found the man naked and filthy, able only to crawl. He found the woman wearing burned clothing, seated in a chair near a kerosene heater and a chained dog. Her right leg was burned from hip to knee, and the deputy suspected infection. The garage was piled waist high with trash, rotting food and feces. Burba radioed for paramedics.

The brother and sister have been hospitalized and have been placed in the care of the Athens County Job and Family Services' Adult Protective Services unit.

This is a particularly troubling example of elderly abuse, a broad category that includes neglect by others and self-neglect.

Ohio's 88 county departments of Job and Family Services received 14,227 reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation of people 60 or older in the 2013 fiscal year that ended on June 30, according to the state department. That total has changed little from previous years: There were 14,344 reports in fiscal 2012, and 14,366 the year before, according to department data.

But self-neglect cases have jumped dramatically.

How the Athens County siblings slid into their circumstances has not been determined. Kelly said he does not anticipate filing criminal charges against anyone because no one is culpable. The two were living in their own property, and no one had power of attorney, he said.

A third elderly sibling lives in a neighboring house, and the woman's daughter lives in a dilapidated mobile home behind the garage that the siblings converted to housing. But because of their own ages and illnesses, Kelly and neighbors said, it appears that the other relatives were unable to help.

Slater did not know the brother and sister by name. But, she said, she used to see them on occasion in their yard when she was out taking her walks.

The man walked his dog and mowed the grass, and the woman dressed neatly and nicely, she said. Even after the house burned down and was dismantled, one corner of it was left standing because it bore the electrical panel that supplied electricity to the garage via a strung cable. From the outside, the garage looked all right.

Slater does not know when all of that changed.

"You feel like you wish you could have done something," she said. Perhaps, she said, someone should have checked on the pair on a regular basis, had anyone thought to do so.

"Out here, as in any place, people tend not to interfere with each other's business. It's a privacy thing," Slater said. "All the people I've talked to said, 'I had no idea.' It's sad."

Sandy Michael, a 46-year-old hairstylist at Shear Creations, a block over from where the brother and sister lived, said the roof and exterior of the house that burned down had been in horrible shape for years. The vinyl-sided garage looked nicer than the house had, at least from the outside.

"You just never know what's behind closed doors," she said. "From the outside world, nothing looked out of the norm."

Usually, the cases of elderly self-neglect that are reported to the county are not publicized. That is for privacy reasons, said Jack Frech, director of the Athens County Job and Family Services office.

This case was highlighted by the sheriff on his Facebook page. Kelly's post drew many comments from people who said they were horrified and sad for the elderly pair, questioned how this could happen and praised Deputy Burba for rescuing them.

"These kinds of things go on all the time, not usually this horrific," Frech said.

People can help stop elderly self-neglect.

"Try to pay attention to what is going on with your elderly or disabled neighbors," Frech said. " Just knock on the door to say, 'Hi, how are you doing?' Don't be afraid to check on them. That's just being a good neighbor."

mlane@dispatch.com

@MaryBethLane1

Copyright 2013 - The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio