ABUSE OF SENIORS RISING RELATIVES, CAREGIVERS OFTEN PREY ON THEM.

Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - The call to police was heartbreaking - a bed-ridden Simi Valley man in his 80s who was so dirty and emaciated that paramedics called authorities.

Simi Valley police took one look at the man's gaunt, bedsore-covered body and a refrigerator filled with rotten food and arrested his son on suspicion of neglect.

``His dad was alone in bed for days,'' said Simi Valley police Sgt. Joe May, who investigated the case last year. ``He was basically ignoring him.''

The case is part of a growing trend that victimizes one of the most vulnerable segments of society, May said.

The grand jury announced this past week that elder abuse is on the increase in Ventura County. Simi Valley was second only to Oxnard in the greatest number of cases, the grand jury concluded.

The county's adult protective services division received 1,542 reports of suspected elder abuse last year, up from 1,311 reports the year before, said Richard Shaw, adult services manager.

More than half of the substantiated reports stem from self-abuse and neglect by seniors who are unable to properly care for themselves, Shaw said.

The most common type of elder abuse perpetrated by others is financial exploitation, followed by neglect, psychological and physical abuse, the grand jury concluded.

Seniors have fallen victim to every kind of financial crime, from telephone investment scams to identity theft by family members who use the person's personal information to open credit accounts, prosecutor Shirley Hayton said.

About 90 percent of financial crimes against seniors are perpetrated by family members, Hayton said.

``Some kids or grandkids don't want to wait for an inheritance,'' she said. ``They want the money now.''

Hayton prosecuted one woman who used her father's name to buy a car as the father lay recovering from a debilitating stroke, she said.

``The car salesman actually went to the care facility and watched her put the pen in Dad's hand and have him sign the contract,'' Hayton said. ``He was then responsible for the payments on that car.''

Elder abuse has become more prevalent as baby boomers get older and more and more Americans are caring for aging parents, authorities said.

``It's a huge problem, and a lot of it doesn't go reported because of shame,'' said Gloria Lopez, a spokeswoman for the county's Human Services Agency. ``Elders are often hesitant to talk about it because the perpetrator is often an adult child or a spouse or a grandchild.''

Seniors who fall prey to financial crime often suffer a crippling loss of confidence, Hayton said. About half move from their own homes to an assisted-living facility after being victimized, she said.

``They think they're not smart enough,'' she said. ``They think if it happened once, it will happen again.''

Simi Valley police don't track the number of elder-abuse cases they investigate, but the phenomenon is increasing, May said.

The county recently formed the Financial Abuse Specialist Team to address the exploitation of seniors, the grand jury noted in its report.

But greater outreach efforts and funding are needed to adequately protect the county's senior population, the report concluded.

The county has a hotline number, [phone], to report suspected cases of elder abuse, and the District Attorney's Office has elder-abuse resources listed on its Web site at www.ventura.org/vcda/senior-crime.htm.

The Simi Valley Senior Center holds monthly classes in conjunction with police to help seniors protect themselves from financial crimes.

Census figures show that Ventura County's population of those 65 or older is lower than the national average, but that doesn't make the problem of elder abuse any less prevalent here, authorities said.

Nearly 8 percent of Simi Valley's population is 65 or older, compared with 10 percent countywide, according to the latest census figures. About 12 percent of the U.S. population is 65 or older.

Some victimized seniors might suffer from dementia or another mental condition that makes them more susceptible to abuse, but others might just be less suspicious than their younger counterparts, said Kathy Medley, senior services manager at the Simi Valley Senior Center.

``These folks grew up in a different day, when people left their doors unlocked and their keys in the car,'' she said. ``They may just be more trusting.''

Andrea Cavanaugh, [phone]

andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com