Content provided in partnership with
Obscure tactic puts elder abusers in prison
Oakland Tribune, Apr 11, 2005 by Jason Dearen, STAFF WRITER
N
Norman Roussey
rubs big hands
over his jowly
face and looks down at his feet.
"I'm a dummy. ... I don't know how this all came about," the 77- year-old man mumbles, standing in a tiny apartment with food rotting on the kitchen counter and clothes strewn on the floor.
Once he owned a three-bedroom house in San Mateo. Once he was a millionaire. Once he had a true friend named Ronald Brock, who spent years keeping Roussey's accounts straight and house clean until -- tempted by Roussey's impaired mental state and bulging bank account - - Brock finally gave in and plundered his friend's finances.
- More Articles of Interest
- Elder-abuse prosecution guru sheds light on crimes
- Preying on the elderly
- Make using undue influence a crime Today through Monday, we are
- Challenges in prosecuting elder abuse - Financial Betrayal by Family and...
- Financial exploitation: the best kept secret of elder abuse - includes a...
Brock probably would have gotten away with it if not for an unusual legal tactic used by a San Mateo County prosecutor to put Brock in jail.
The tactic is based on the idea that friendship can be wielded as a weapon to manipulate the mentally vulnerable, and it allows prosecutors to put such "friends" in prison.
If this tactic survives legal challenge, prosecutors throughout the state believe they at last have something
c2005 ANG Newspapers. Cannot be used or repurposed without prior
written permission.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
