CALIFORNIA PROBATE CENTER

The Authority for Probate Litigation and Estate Planning in California

93-Year Old Pearl Harbor Survivor Found Living in Squalor Due to Elder Abuse

Posted on | January 31, 2011 | No Comments

Arnold Bauer is a retired veteran of the armed forces who was lucky enough to survive the attack of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Unfortunately, he is now allegedly the victim of elder abuse. Mr. Bauer, who became a widower in 2007 and is now suffering from prostate cancer and dementia, was found in his El Cajon home living in reported squalor. Mr. Bauer was supposed to be taken care of by his paid caretaker, 62-year old Milagros Angeles. It is alleged that Milagros was severely neglecting Mr. Bauer and is suspected of stealing upwards of $28,000 from him by altering his bank account checks. Mr. Bauer’s daughter, Stephanie Le Chevalier, stated that they all felt betrayed by Milagros’ deceptions and that she was horrified to find out that her father’s home as reported had become full of rat droppings and rotting trash.

Milagros had been working as Mr. Bauer’s nurse since 2009 according to Deputy District Attorney, Danielle Hickman. Employees at Mr. Bauer’s bank became concerned and contacted Adult Protective Services when he had not come into the bank for over three months. According to Sgt. Mark Varnau of the Sheriff Department’s Elder Abuse Unit, when deputies arrived at Mr. Bauer’s El Cajon home last month they found him clutching a photo of his ship the “USS Vestal”. Mr. Bauer was found to be dehydrated, disoriented and suffering from dementia and was reluctant to let authorities in the house due to paranoia. Mr. Bauer’s “caretaker”, Milagro Angeles is now being charged with false imprisonment of an elder, theft by a caretaker and altering checks to steal thousands of dollars from her employer. The judge ordered her to be held on bail of one million dollars.

It was later learned that both of Mr. Bauer’s children were living in both Santa Barbara and San Pedro respectively. When interviewed about their father’s living condition both Mr. Bauer’s son and daughter stated that they had no idea he was being treated like this and that neither had visited in a while. Mr. Bauer’s daughter Stephanie stated that she spoke with the caretaker once a month and had been reassured over and over that her father was healthy and eating well.

In retrospect this was clearly not the case and abusive situations like Mr. Bauer’s occur all too often. There are many cases where family members of an elder will trust either a paid caretaker or family member to properly care for them. This trust may be abused and unfortunately, it is the elder family member that usually pays the price. Mr. Bauer is now in the VA hospital and his daughter Stephanie holds power of attorney over him.

Often times caretakers of the elderly will take advantage of the vulnerable older person for financial gain. It is important to physically check in on your elderly family members as much as possible whether they are being taken care of at home or in a facility.

- Article by Marissa Sirota

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