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Sacramento County fails to address elder financial abuse, Grand Jury finds
( — The Sacramento County Grand Jury released a new report on Wednesday, stating that the county is not doing enough to protect against elder financial abuse.
According to Elizabeth TenPas, Grand Jury Foreperson, it is unlike other counties; Sacramento does not have a proactive approach in dealing with what they said is a serious and growing problem. Financial abuse can result in great harm to victims over the age of 65.
The Grand Jury has deemed that elder adults who are victims of abuse by family members, trusted advisors, tradespeople, or unrelated caregivers are being disadvantaged of justice, TenPas said.
TenPas stated in a press release that the Grand Jury's investigation found that from 2019 through 2024, Sacramento County Adult Protective Services confirmed almost 4,000 cases of elder financial abuse, but the law enforcement within the county only referred 123 cases to the District Attorney's Office for possible prosecution.
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'Neither the District Attorney nor county law enforcement agencies have dedicated staff specifically trained to investigate and prosecute elder financial abuse,' said Elizabeth TenPas, Grand Jury Foreperson for 2024-2025. 'In fact, the District Attorney's website explicitly states that such exploitation is only prosecuted on 'rare occasions' by the elder abuse unit. Many abusers avoid consequences because the District Attorney's Office does not prosecute financial abuse cases that are not accompanied by physical abuse, or involve large dollar losses or multi-victim schemes.'
After the cases had been given to the DA's office, they only filed charges for 99 cases of the 123 that were given to them, authorities said.
The newly published report found additional findings to focus on the need for:
Increased funding for creating elder financial abuse prosecutor, investigator, and victim advocate positions in the DA's office.
Each law enforcement agency to have at least one detective with specialized training in the investigation of elder financial abuse, as well as training for uniformed officers on recognizing the signs of such abuse.
Reactivation of the Financial Abuse Specialist Team to facilitate collaboration between the DA, law enforcement, social service agencies, legal services organizations, victim advocacy organizations, and financial institutions to combat financial elder abuse.
Improved record-keeping and data collection practices by Adult Protective Services and law enforcement agencies to allow tracking of elder financial abuse cases.
Greater community outreach on the part of Adult Protective Services, the DA and law enforcement agencies.
Officials stated that the Grand Jury makes many recommendations that include adding funding in the DA's office to investigate and prosecute these crimes, while also recommending specialized training for law enforcement to know the signs of financial elder abuse.
For more information about the investigation, click here to review the Grand Jury website.
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