Experts Say Many Are Too Embarrassed To Report Elder Abuse

In two weeks a Ross County man will be tried for domestic violence, accused of abusing his elderly mother.

Annabelle Gullette, 91, lives on a quiet street in Chillicothe and requires a walker to move.

Chillicothe police charged her son, Daniel, with domestic violence after she called police.

"He was always pulling my hair," Gullette said. "He got mad at me the other night after he got done working out."

Chillicothe police officer Bud Lytle said that the officer who responded stated in his report that he found Gullette crying at the scene.

"She was in bed sleeping and he had dragged her out of bed," Lytle said.

The officer photographed her bruises. Daniel Gullette denied hurting his mother, but was arrested.

"I don't know why he thinks he has to pull my hair all the time," Annabelle Gullette said.

Annabelle's was a familiar story to Karen Days, president of the Center for Family Safety and Healing. She said that elder abuse is one of the most under-reported crimes because many seniors are too embarrassed to ask for help.

"People don't want to report that there's that kind of chaos and that kind of harm happening in their home," Days said.

Lytle said that the abuse ranges from financial to physical.

"It is frustrating as a police officer to know that those things exist and know that the victims aren't reporting them," Lytle said.

In Franklin County, the number of elder abuse calls have nearly doubled in 10 years, and Days thinks those numbers will keep climbing as the population ages.

Lytle estimated that only about 15 percent of seniors who are abused actually call police.

Daniel Gullette pled not guilty at his arraignment.  His trial is scheduled for Sept. 20.

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