CUMBERLAND — People accused of harming the elderly would face tighter restrictions on getting out of jail before trial, and those convicted of abuse could face much stiffer sentences, should Senate Bill 223 become law in Maryland.
Available statistics on elder abuse in the United States paint a dark picture of the lives many older Americans face when they can’t completely care for or protect themselves.
“According to the best ... estimates, between 1 (million) and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care or protection,” according to the website of the National Center on Elder Abuse.
At the same time, hard numbers are difficult to find. That’s because definitions of abuse vary, and it’s often difficult to identify specifically the actions that led to abuse or neglect, according to the NCEA. In addition, there is no uniform reporting system and national data is not collected, according to NCEA officials.
Should the bill pass, district court commissioners wouldn’t be permitted to authorize bail for those charged with elder abuse in the first or second degree.
District court is typically where bail is set when someone is first arrested, except in capital cases.
The proposed law would require bail requests to go directly to circuit court judges. Judges would be required to set a bail higher than $5,000, hold the accused person’s passport and set other conditions to ensure the suspect will not flee the state or country or be a danger to another person or the community.
The bill increases the penalties for caregivers, including relatives convicted of the felony of abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult, who would face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine not exceeding $20,000.
The current penalty is a maximum of 10 years in prison and $10,000 fine. A felony offense is abuse or neglect leading to death, serious physical injury or sexual abuse.
Penalties for a misdemeanor offense of abuse or neglect would increase from a maximum of five years to 10 years in jail and fines would increase to $10,000 from $5,000.
The bill, also known as The John H. Taylor Act, is sponsored by Sen. Lisa Gladden, a Baltimore Democrat. Gladden has sponsored the bill in previous sessions.
Taylor, a 90-year-old man, became the motivation for Gladden’s bill and similar bills nationwide after he was brutally beaten by a caregiver in 2007.
Taylor was making progress from recovering from two strokes at the time of the beatings. Taylor’s family caught the beatings on tape and the case became known across the country.
The caregiver was charged, but was granted a low bail, posted it and fled the country. Taylor died in 2009.
The National Center on Elder Abuse website is http://www. ncea.aoa.gov/ncearoot/Main_Site/index.aspx.
Taylor’s story, as told by his family, may be found at: http://carepaignforchange.org/hisstory.html.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com.
