Photo: Rob and I unveiling our new plan to protect vulnerable adults at the Merrill Gardens retirement home in Lower Queen Anne.
Dan Satterberg is the King County Prosecuting Attorney
As a prosecutor, my job is to seek justice when someone is wronged. Too many heart‑wrenching cases cross my desk involving vulnerable victims who are unable to defend themselves, and the opportunities for these crimes grow every year. The population of retired persons is rapidly expanding, with the first of 77 million baby boomers just reaching retirement age. This group controls 70% of the nation’s personal wealth, but also can present new potential victims for scammers to target.
We see the headlines too often announcing another incident of neglect or abuse of vulnerable populations: An elderly person relies on a friend or relative to help manage their finances. Instead, those entrusted help themselves to their victim’s bank account. We see paid caregivers abusing and neglecting their vulnerable patients, causing death or serious injury. The actual number of cases of vulnerable adult abuse is likely far greater than the number actually reported to police. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these crimes are committed by family members. More needs to be done to protect the financial well‑being of vulnerable adults. I have worked with Rob McKenna and others to draft a set of proposals to take to the legislature and beef up our laws protecting vulnerable adults. We propose:
- Adding mandatory sentencing enhancements (with medical exceptions) for crimes against victims over age 65 or who meet the definition of a vulnerable adult in the Abuse of Vulnerable Adults Act.
- Making employees of financial institutions mandatory reporters of the financial exploitation of vulnerable adults, since many times these employees are the only witnesses to potential financial exploitation.
- Strengthening protections for vulnerable adults by clarifying definitions in the vulnerable adult statutes and by improving coordination between reporters of abuse, law enforcement and Adult Protective Services.
- Allowing for greater public disclosure of Adult Protective Services information reports about abuse, abandonment and other forms of vulnerable adult abuse or neglect so family members can better research caregivers.
- Creating a publicly searchable database of perpetrators.
These are solid proposals to protect those who can no longer protect themselves. With Rob leading the way in Olympia, I expect the legislature will agree that these changes are needed to safeguard vulnerable adults’ assets and their well-being.