The arrest of a Fentress County couple for the financial exploitation of an elderly relative not an uncommon occurrence, according to a UCHRA expert.
UCHRA Advocate Trent Carter said that in most cases, it is a family member financially exploiting an elderly relative rather than a stranger. Carter said that usually a grandparent feels responsible for financially taking care of a grandchild.
“Sometimes it will start out by the grandparent loaning them or just giving them, let’s just say, like $50 or $100 when they are down on their luck,” Carter said. “And then that just becomes a pattern. And of course, $100 here and there over the course of six months can end up being thousands of dollars.”
Carter said often times a family member will lie about what they need the money. Carter said in most cases, a family member will financially exploit an elderly relative out of desperation.
“There are various reasons, but usually it is like they have got themselves into a bad situation, and they know that, you know, that elderly parent or elderly grandparent will get them out of it,” Carter said. “And maybe they don’t tell them the whole truth about why they are in that situation. And that person, you know, the victim might suspect something, but that’s their grandson, that’s their granddaughter, that’s their baby, you know, so they are not gonna think too much about it, cause a lot of times, you know, people don’t want to think about being deceived by a family member.”
Carter serves in the Collaborative Response to Elder and Vulnerable Adult Abuse program at UCHRA.
