This video has gone viral
This video has gone viral!
Set-up – The Video Will Make More Sense if You Read This First
A homeless woman by the name of Cathy has been begging for money in and around Town Center, in Irvine California since sometime in 2006. Sam Wilson got curious and started asking around about her. After being told by a security guard that she was not in fact homeless, but was picked late every night by a man appearing to be her son he decided to check it out for himself. He had to wait until 2:00 am, before her ride showed up. This is a video of that confrontation: You can read more about this story at OCWeekly. What do you think? Is this elder abuse? What should be done about it if anything?
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Yes I think this is elder abuse. I think that she best do as he says or she will be in big trouble. I think he could be very mean. And I think that the state should check on this. May be he has more then jest her.
Definitely. The first thing that comes to mind regarding her son is that he is a pimp of sorts. He is using her to exploit unsuspecting people for money, and I would guess by his demeanor (and hers) that he is exerting his power over her to accomplish this. What a sad story. I can’t help but think of all the things in life she is missing out on while she is being used by her son to solicit money. This is terrible.
Based on the story alone (short video), it is not elder abuse but elder neglect if she is waiting that long for a ride to return to her home.
Dr. Ethelle Lord
Pioneer in Alzheimer’s Coaching
As sad as this is, It really depends on if she is mentally competent and whether she is choosing to panhandle willingly. If she is competent and states she chooses to do this as a way to make money, it’s disturbing but not necessarily a crime.
It is possible that what we are seeing here is actually human trafficking, a form of modern day slavery where the victims are forced into things like prostitution or panhandling and intimidated to stay quiet about it by threats to their family and/or themselves. Whether the older woman involved is actually a relative or not is immaterial, but one senses this guy may have a number of people like her that he is doing this with and a prepared aggressive response to anyone asking questions.
Rod: I hadn’t actually thought of it as a form of modern day slavery, but honestly that is pretty much what it does look like.
I am hoping the authorities in Orange County are looking into this. The problem they could likely face though is if the woman is competent, and says she is fine with it, there is very little they can do. Perhaps the best thing that could happen would be for people to see this and stop giving money, which would make the exercise pointless.
Steve