State's New Abuse Law Nets Conviction
Defendant found guilty of sex crimes involving relative
By Sherri Williams, Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer
Originally published in The Clarion-Ledger, November 15, 2001
A Walthall County man accused of sexual battery and gratification of lust involving an elderly woman is the first to be convicted under the state's new Vulnerable Adults Act, according to the state attorney general's office.
Edward Lee Hampton, 52, recently was sentenced in Walthall County Circuit Court to 10 years, with six years suspended. He also received five years supervised probation.
Hampton was convicted of having sex with a physically and mentally disabled 82-year-old woman. The Clarion-Ledger does not identify victims of sexual assault.
A news release on Hampton's conviction from the attorney general's office did not say when the crime occurred.
The new law, which took effect July 1, requires any individual who knows or suspects that a vulnerable adult living in a private home has been or is being abused or exploited to report such abuse to the Department of Human Services. The DHS refers its findings to the attorney general's office.
A conviction carries up to 20 years in prison.
State Attorney General Mike Moore said senior citizens and other vulnerable adults desperately need additional protection under the law.
"There is so much physical and financial exploitation of these folks that it's really sad and they really don't know what's happening to them," he said Wednesday. "They were just falling through the cracks because no one was doing any investigating. But now we have the authority to investigate in private homes."
A vulnerable adult is defined as "any adult 18 years of age or older or any minor whose ability to perform the normal activities of daily living is impaired due to a mental, emotional, physical or developmental disability or dysfunction."
Loretta Jeter, president of the Brandon chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons, said she is pleased that the law is helping to keep vulnerable adults safe.
"I hope it will be publicized to warn anyone else that they are being watched and they will be reported," Jeter said.
The new law also created the Vulnerable Adult Unit in Moore's office. The unit has received more than 300 complaints of suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation of a vulnerable adult in a private home as of Oct. 30. The unit has 40 open criminal investigations.
