Thanks to Academy Award-winning actor Mickey Rooney, the media spotlight is once again illuminating the problem of elder abuse. However, this time it’s not just a 20/20 or Dateline NBC expose on seniors getting roughed up at assisted living facilities by a bunch of paid strangers. Rather, Rooney is pointing fingers at his own family, saying he was physically, mentally, and “financially” tortured by his stepson.
For the record, the 90-year-old actor didn’t come out and name his stepson as his attacker. However, he has obtained a restraining order keeping his stepson, Chris Aber, away from him until an April 5 court hearing, so it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the identity of Rooney’s alleged assailant.
According to the court papers, Rooney says Aber withheld food and medicine and meddled in his personal finances. In addition, a few days ago, during a rare public appearance in which he testified before the Senate on elder abuse, Rooney went into detail about being yelled at, threatened and intimidated by a family member he “once loved and trusted.”
“I felt trapped, scared, used and frustrated,” Rooney told a special Senate committee considering legislation to reduce elder abuse. “But above all, when a man feels helpless, it’s terrible.”
The film and television star says he is speaking out in order to raise awareness about elder abuse, and hopefully put safeguards in place to protect aging parents, so they are not stripped of their health and dignity by the people who should love and care for them the most.
If Rooney’s stepson is found guilty of perpetrating the crimes the actor has accused him of, then I hope he is made to suffer appropriate consequences. Clearly, parental abuse is a growing problem, especially as the sandwich generation grows and adult children are forced to care for their parents as well as their own kids. Elderly parents that need assistance with medical care and day-to-day living deserve loving and trustworthy caregivers who are vigilant about protecting their physical and emotional well being. What they don’t need are impatient, resentful kids who see them more as a burden than a blessing.
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