First of Aurora trio gets 3 years for neglecting mother
Kane County Associate Judge Clint Hull didn’t buy that working overtime was a valid reason for an Aurora man not to take care of his ill, elderly mother with whom he lived.
Thursday he sentenced Kevin H. Roberson to three years in prison for criminal abuse and neglect of an elderly person.
“No matter how busy one’s life may be, no matter how difficult it (caring for the person) is, it must be done,” Hull said. Roberson’s attorney had argued at a July 11 sentencing hearing that Roberson often worked overtime; that his mother resisted having outside caregivers; that, as a son, he couldn’t bring himself to wash his mother or change her diaper because it would require seeing her undressed; and that his sister, Connie, was the primary caregiver.
Hull noted that in the two weeks before the woman’s Oct. 3, 2011 hospitalization, Roberson not only hadn’t worked overtime, he had only worked 36 and 24 hours.
Kevin H., Connie and their brother, Alan Roberson, all pleaded guilty to the charges. They lived in a rental house with their mother and their 17-year-old nephew. They were arrested several days after Connie Roberson called paramedics to take their mother to a hospital. The hospital then called Aurora police and an abuse investigator from Senior Services Associates. The victim, who had kidney insufficiency and congestive heart failure, suffered from several pressure sores, including one on her tailbone area that exposed bone. She also had a gangrenous leg that had to be amputated, and lice, and was dehydrated.
A detective testified that in a search of the one-story, three-bedroom home, they found it to be unkempt; that a blanket-type pad was soaked with exudate from the pressure sores; that a love seat and its cushions, where the victim had spent much of the summer immobile, were stained with urine and feces; and that a bag of charcoal had been placed under the mother’s bed, in an unsuccessful attempt to absorb a foul odor.
“They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. I can’t begin to describe how horrible and disturbing the photos of the injuries of this victim are,” Hull said.
Roberson was given credit for the 310 days he has spent in the Kane County jail since his arrest, and is eligible for good time reduction.
Hull also heard testimony Thursday for Connie Roberson and Alan Roberson. He will pronounce their sentences at 1:30 p.m. Monday.