Recently, a man has pleaded guilty to raping a 94-year-old woman in a Northern California nursing home. According to the San Jose Mercury news, 43 year old Roberto Cruz Recendes pleaded guilty to a sex count, elderly abuse and an enhancement of inflicting great bodily injury, and he is facing a 17 year prison sentence. Recendes was arrested in Mexico in 2008, six years earlier the police arrested the wrong suspect. Under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, Section 15657 expresses the remedies available and states: Where it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that a defendant is liable for physical abuse or neglect, and that the defendant has been guilty of recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice in the commission of this abuse, the specific remedies (as provided by law) shall be applied. The Act is based on legislative findings that explain how elderly persons and dependent adults are a disadvantaged class, that cases of abuse of such persons are seldom prosecuted as criminal matters, and that few civil cases are brought in connection with this kind of abuse due to problems of proof, court delays, and lack of incentives to prosecute these suits.
Even though the Act is was written in 1991, it is still young and there remains some uncertainty regarding the issue of fighting a claim for civil remedies under the Act. That is why anyone who believes they have a claim should seek out an experienced attorney who is aware the delicacy of the law of and knows how to fight such cases, as each case must be specifically dealt with in relation to its facts in compliance with rules requiring specifics based on fact. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we have over ten years experience fighting for the rights of victims and are prepared to handle any type of elder abuse claim. Whether they deal with neglect, physical abuse, recklessness, oppression, fraud or malice–we will carefully and astutely fight for the victim.
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