Siblings Kept Mentally-Disabled Older Sister in Backyard Shed for Decades

[Liberal_in_LA]

But the 7 pitbulls got to live in the house and the siblings cashed her $700 disability check. The shed is the metal type that can be purchased from sears.

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=226863

http://www.kare11.com/news/whatsup/whatsup_article.aspx?storyid=530343&catid=333

Mentally disabled woman forced to spend decades in backyard shed

A California brother and sister are under arrest after their 58-year old mentally-disabled sister was found living in a shed in their backyard.

San Mateo County authorities say there were no signs of abuse or starvation, or that the woman was being held against her will.

What troubles them the most is how the 58-year old woman named "Amelia" lived compared to her brother and sister who lived in the home in front of her shed.

"They have running water. They don't sit on a tiny little, almost child's commode to do their personal needs. They have electricity and real heat, not a space heater on a frayed wire," said Steve Wagstaffe of the San Mateo District Attorney's Office.

When San Mateo County Sheriff's deputies responded to a fight between family members at the home last week they found "Amelia" in the backyard.

Amelia told investigators she lived in the shed because there wasn't any room in the home, which housed her brother, sister and seven pit-bulls.



http://www.ksbw.com/news/18044379/detail.html

Brother, Sister Face Fraud Charges
Police Say Pair Stole Mentally Disabled Sister's Checks

POSTED: 10:31 am PST November 23, 2008
UPDATED: 11:16 am PST November 23, 2008


A brother and sister from the Bay Area are facing fraud charges for stealing their mentally disabled sister's Social Security checks.

[Schema Thing]

1. yeah and she's the crazy one?

[upi402]

2. Man's inhumanity to man

Some things will never change

[XemaSab]

3. The pitbulls cashed her check?

I wish MY dogs would do my banking for me. :(

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. lol. I'll edit that sentence

[babylonsister]

5. This is just gross. I'm speechless. nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

40. and only brought to light because police called to family fight. Neighbor says he know she

lived in the shed but 'didn't think it was that bad". sheesh!

[BrklynLiberal]

6. There really are no words to express how horrifyingly sad this is.

They let the dogs live in the house with them, and the SISTER was in a shed in the backyard!!!!

[LisaL]

7. No signs of abuse or starvation, and she wasn't held against

her will-frankly I don't think this case is going to go anywhere.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. She's disabled so they might get them on the fraud charges

[LisaL]

9. 700 $ ain't a lot of money.

If she were to rent on her own, what could she afford in CA? And who is the owner of the house?

[SammyWinstonJack]

10. $700 should have bought her a room in the house, don't you think?

[AlCzervik]

17. she's developmentally disabled, did you miss that part? Do you think maybe she

cannot on her own go out and rent a room because she doesn't have the mental faculties to do that?

[ContinentalOp]

26. Are you kidding? I had a pretty nice one bedroom in L.A. for that amount only 6 or 7 years ago.

She's been living there for DECADES! In Redwood City! $700 IS a lot of money.

[salin]

22. wow.

speechless.

[AlCzervik]

24. ya rly.

not much surprises me anymore but that post did.

[salin]

27. me, too

I tried to write a response, but seriously was rendered speechless (rare, for me.)

Imagine the thought of "what a great deal! - live in a shed with no water or direct heat! Hard to imagine embracing that idea.

[Solon]

23. Uhm, a metal shed without central heating is NOT considered suitable living conditions...

for anyone. That, by itself, would constitute abuse.

[fascisthunter]

32. what an absolutely twisted conclusion

wow...lol. sick...

[hunter]

11. I spent some time as a crazy guy living in a shed.

But I cashed my own checks. The people in the house were pretty strange too.

I suspect all three siblings have some mental health issues. Maybe the woman in the shed is the sharpest of the lot, especially if the house is full of dog shit and bad vibes.

[Mojorabbit]

15. I had a homeless guy

live in my shed off and on for over a year. Whenever he needed a place to stay he would just show up and enter the unlocked shed where I kept a pillow and some blankets for him.
What a horrible way to treat a sibling instead of bringing her in for emotional and physical support and the warmth of a home.

[LisaL]

34. There is a guy around here who I think is living behind a dumpster.

I bet he would like a shed.

[ContinentalOp]

36. I would assume he doesn't have family members stealing $700 a month from him. -nt-

[LisaL]

39. I have no idea. I've never seen any family members around him.

[hunter]

37. I'll bet there's not much "emotional and physical support and... warmth" in that home...

Mentally disabled people fall through the cracks every damned day, and end up in situations MUCH worse than living in a shed.

I hope this woman ends up in a better place, but I wouldn't count on it.

Maybe the publicity will help her. Or maybe they simply move her to some other neighborhood in hell.

[LisaL]

38. They sure do. A lot of homeless are mentally disabled or

disturbed.

[Cetacea]

18. Good point. n/t

[AlCzervik]

19. or they could have just wanted her $700 a month check. I don't doubt bad vibes

were going on in that house but it looks like they were in it for the cash.

[ben_meyers]

12. In the old days they had lobotomies performed

and at least kept them in the attic.

I think a politically prominent family was even accused of this last century.

[Maat]

13. I suspect that she will be taken into protective custody.

I helped take adults, as well as children, into protective custody when I was a social worker. She will be placed, and whomever cares for her, in a HOME, will get paid for her care. The gravy train is over, Siblings.

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. good! At age 58 I'd like to know she's inside a house, not in a metal shed.

[LisaL]

21. And how do people live in trailers?

I've recently read about the guy who figured out how to convert shipping containers into some sort of houses. He was selling them and very proud of himself and his business.

[Solon]

25. You are an idiot, those converted containers are brought up to code...

living standard codes. A metal shed, of this sort, cannot be brought up to building codes. It didn't even have central air, and I doubt they put insulation in it.

[LisaL]

20. Yea, cause 700$ sure can buy lots of gravy.

:eyes:

[ContinentalOp]

28. WTF, are you kidding? $700 a month is a lot of money!

That's a good chunk of my mortgage. Did you see that dump they're living in? It's probably their entire rent.

[AlCzervik]

30. and for how many years have they been collecting that? It's disgusting.

and i hope they go to jail and then maybe they'll see what it's like living in a confined space but of course they'll still have the advantage of running water and a toilet.

[salin]

31. I would suspect

that this is in their future.

Indeed (regardless of the Duer asserting that 700 is legitimate rent for such a shed with no heat nor water), I would guess that the case would be very easy to make unless each of the other siblings is paying much more than 700 a piece (to justify the one "rent" payment only allowed the sister to live in the metal shed).

[ContinentalOp]

35. Decades the article said!

So assuming $700 a month for 20 years, that's $168,000! I don't actually know how social security works so that may be inaccurate. I guess it probably wasn't $700/month the whole time but still, it would have been a lot of money.

[salin]

29. again, wow.

so there was "no room in the house" per the mentally disabled woman's explanation - yet there were multiple dogs (none of which brought in any money, let alone 700 to the household income). How about bringing the sister (that brings an income) into the house and putting the dogs into the shed?

[LeftyMom]

33. I rent 900 recently remodeled square feet for $800.

She's disabled. She'd go to the front of the line for rental assistance and income-qualified properties. So she could probably rent a pretty decent place with enough of that $700 left for utilities (which would be discounted, and pretty minimal) and to buy some groceries.

So no, she doesn't have to live in a rusty shed.

[Maat]

41. Well, believe or not, I knew many who stole ...

seeking far less than that.

Ah, I see that the other responses to you in this thread articulate my feelings far better than I.

This woman was being exploited for her money - period.

Hopefully, criminal charges will be filed against those who abused her.

And, here's a prayer (good thoughts) that the victim ends up in a nice home with people who will see that she is treated properly.

[NJCher]

16. I ran into a case like this

I was shopping for real estate and learned about a family who put their elderly (very wealthy) mother in the one-car detached garage. It was not converted to a living space, although it did have carpet on the walls and the floor.

You would not believe the red tape and time it took to get this checked out. It was like a part-time job for a couple weeks. The government did NOT want to hear about it. Another shocking thing was that at the time (maybe things have subsequently changed), there were some pretty low standards for what constitutes abuse. I wanted to give up because it was so frustrating but I just couldn't do it. I had to see the thing through to the end.

Because of privacy laws, I was unable to ever learn the results of the investigation. I found out via other means and was satisfied the elderly woman would be moved to comfortable, caring surroundings. They were living off her millions and there she was--stuck in a garage that wasn't even climate controlled.

Another sad part of this story is that there were a number of people (neighbors) who knew but who did nothing. I would hope that if I were ever in such a situation, someone would come to my aid (not likely, since I'm a kitty mom).

All this took place about the time the Brooke Astor case was going on.



Cher

[Maat]

42. Yes, one of my saddest cases involved an elderly woman ..

who owned a rather nice-sized mobile home in a nice park. Her meth-addicted daughter and boyfriend took all her money and blew it on meth. They were high as kites when I visited with the local deputies. The deputies arrested them, and I got the kid. My friend, the other social worker, took Grandma to an excellent care facility. Neither Grandma or the kid looked well; they looked as if they hadn't eaten in weeks. The party was over for the abusers. They had destroyed every inch of the inside of the home, which was filled with rotting debris, from one end to the other. They had sold everything of value that Grandma owned. She was in and out of reality (Grandma), and she couldn't defend herself.