District 39 State Senator Kevin Kinney (D) of Oxford says many people are surprised that Iowa’s penalties against elder abuse are not more stringent.

Kinney has backed Senate File 522, a bill that would make elder abuse a crime for the first time in Iowa. He says he’s seen victims of elder abuse firsthand during his time with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and older Iowans being taken advantage of can hit close to home, “Just look at your parents or grandparents, there are people out there trying to scam older individuals. I would have numerous calls on different types of scams or even abuse of older Iowans and there wasn’t a lot you could do. It’s really become prevalent, maybe because of the pandemic, that elder abuse is hidden, that there are different forms of it and a lot of that has to do with family members that are abusing the older Iowans.”

Kinney says elder abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional neglect, or financial exploitation and that 85 to 95% of abuse is done by someone they know.  He says most perpetrators only face up to serious misdemeanor charges under current Iowa law. The senate passed SF522 and the house judiciary subcommittee recommended passage to move the measure forward.