SIGNS OF ELDER ABUSE OFTEN HIDDEN; SENIORS VULNERABLE TO FINANCIAL, PHYSICAL DAMAGE.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

The recent case of a well-known Santa Clarita man who was found guilty of draining $258,000 from the savings of an elderly woman shocked the community.

But it happens a lot more often than people realize, said Brad Berens, executive director of the Santa Clarita Senior Center. And it's something that everyone pays for in the end, he said.

``Unfortunately, it happens more often than we'd like. We see about two or three cases a month,'' Berens said. ``Sometimes we do a little investigating and find out that the family is just trying to do their best. But if we have real good evidence, we go directly to law enforcement.''

Abuses can range from actual physical harm to neglect, verbal attacks and financial trickery, Berens said. And there are always those who want to prey on trusting and vulnerable seniors.

Once the cases are referred to law enforcement, they are often handled by Los Angeles County Adult Protective Services. Pam Smith, a human services administrator for the department, said she sees a whole range of abuses inflicted on the elderly in the agency's investigations.

Of the approximately 950 cases of senior and dependent-adult abuse that Adult Protective Services gets per month, about 40 percent turn out to be valid concerns, Smith said. The cases usually are evenly divided among physical abuse, neglect and financial abuse.

``With financial abuse, it really amounts to us having to go back and decide, Was the person of sound mind when he or she made the decision?'' Smith said. ``It's usually a family member or a caretaker who is close but isn't related.''

Smith said she was familiar with the case involving Edwin Seth Brown, executive director of the Samuel Dixon Family Health Center in Val Verde, who a jury determined took money over several years from Olive Ruby.

Ruby, a former Santa Clarita Valley Woman of the Year, died in December at the age of 86. Her life savings had already vanished. Prosecutors said she gave the money to Brown as a donation for the health center. Brown said Ruby gave him the money as a gift, and he used it to take vacations and buy a car, real estate and furniture.

Nevertheless, a jury found Brown guilty of elder financial abuse, a felony, and he faces a maximum sentence of six years in state prison at his sentencing April 3.

Smith said she is familiar with the case because it has become infamous in the department. But she has other stories to share, like that of an elderly woman who made more than the typical number of trips to hospital emergency rooms.

The injuries were always explained by her son as household accidents, Smith said. During one of the emergency room visits, however, a doctor found that the injury did not match the son's story.

The woman was taken into protective custody and then placed in a nursing home, Smith said.

``The problem is getting the goods on the abuser,'' Smith said. ``You have to have someone visit regularly so there's some monitoring going on - a watchdog who can maybe see the signs.''

But often the solution is as frightening as the abuse. Some seniors don't know where else to turn, Smith said.

``What we run into very often is that the elderly, despite the situation, is reluctant to leave either because they are ashamed or saddened,'' Smith said.

She characterized seniors' fears: ``This is someone I've loved and nurtured. If I cop to the fact that this is an abusive situation and take away the abuser, where will I be?''

Berens tries to make the elderly people who frequent the Santa Clarita Senior Center aware of abuse signs. He also educates them on potential scams.

The awareness has helped the community combat some of the regular con artists who try to take money from seniors, Berens said.

There are salesmen circulating in the area now, for example, who say they represent a financial institution that wants to help seniors invest their money, Berens said.

``They're fly-by-night. They call themselves something like Senior Services,'' Berens said. ``Some seniors will call us to check it out.''

In the past, Berens said he has asked a senior center member to make an appointment with a salesman. Then he poses as the son who wants information on the investment program.

``When they find out who we are, they literally shut their briefcases and leave,'' Berens said.

Berens said doctors can be just as guilty of running scams. It is common for doctors to bill Medicare and Medicaid for services not provided to elderly patients, he said.

While the scam does not hurt seniors directly, it drains the benefits service of funding estimated at $20 billion to $80 billion a year nationwide, Berens said.

In most of the abuse cases, authorities rely on the seniors' friends in the community - neighbors, caretakers, visitors, landlords - to report their suspicions. Without them, many of the 300,000 annual cases of abuse nationwide would go undetected.

Berens said some of the best tips can come from a volunteer who delivers meals to the elderly.

``The abuses generally go unreported,'' Berens said. ``It could be family members or people who become fast friends. Seniors put up with it because they don't know what will happen to them.''