McMahon’s senior unit adds human touch

A 74-year-old Elgin woman left the state and never went back to her apartment after she was raped and beaten after a man broke into her apartment in April 2010.

But the woman was never out of the loop about the status of her case because Linda Voirin and Mary Moon, two full-time senior victim advocates in the Kane County state’s attorney’s office, kept her informed and provided support over the phone.

“She was so traumatized, she never came back to her apartment in Elgin,” Voirin said Tuesday, adding that she didn’t meet the victim face-to-face until she testified at trial last week.

A 42-year-old Chicago man was convicted of the attack and he faces up to 120 years in prison when he is sentenced in August.

The Elgin attack was an extreme case, but cases handled by the state’s attorney’s Seniors and Persons with Disabilities Unit are on the rise — partly because of the growing elderly population and due to better training for authorities and first responders, like paramedics.

Last year, the unit handled 58 cases, which is an all-time high since the unit was formed 10 years ago.

In 2008 and 2009, the unit handled 36 and 39 cases, respectively. In its first year, it handled seven.

“Historically, people don’t want to report crimes committed by their own family members,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said.

The most common crimes against seniors are home repair fraud and financial exploitation, McMahon said.

But with the sour economy, some grandparents must take in their grown children and grandchildren, leading to crimes of opportunity for younger folks who may be addicted to drugs, Voirin said.

“We see a number of grandkids living with their grandparents and they’re pawning their jewelry,” Voirin said. “It’s easy to take it from grandma.”

McMahon said his office works to have consistency in cases involving crimes against seniors. For example, the same prosecutor handles the case from start to finish and the senior advocates provide support and communication.

Voirin said the key to combating crimes against seniors is collaboration between all types of agencies. She and Moon see communication, support and meeting with victims as an essential service as a case works it way through the system.

“I had one victims say to me, ‘You put the human side into this,’ ” Voirin said, adding the victims “want to hear (a) voice. They don’t want a letter.”