Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa House has unanimously approved a bill that defines elder abuse as a crime and sets up enhanced penalties for assaulting or defrauding an older Iowan.
The bill applies to alleged crimes against dependent adults or individuals who are 60 or older.
That’s Republican Representative Dustin Hite from New Sharon. Hite, who is a lawyer, says he’s seen cases where someone has taken advantage of an older Iowan.
The bill cleared the Iowa Senate last year. House members have made a small change to the legislation, to ensure family members or guardians don’t get charged for steps to protect an older Iowan by, for example, taking their car keys if they’re no longer a safe driver or telling a bank to stop allowing withdrawals on the person’s accounts. Representative Mary Wolfe a Democrat from Clinton, voted for the bill, but she says there’s no evidence enhanced penalties would be a deterrent.
The bill has been a priority for AARP of Iowa. The group says because elder abuse has not been defined as a crime in Iowa, police and financial institutions have sometimes been unable to properly prosecute people who’ve taken advantage of an older Iowan or who’ve abused a dependent adult. House changes to the bill must be approved by the Senate before it could be signed into law by the governor.
