Family Reacts To Elderly Abuse Conviction
POSTED: Tuesday, March 11, 2008
UPDATED: 7:18 am CDT March 12,
2008
SAN ANTONIO -- Days after the conviction of the caretaker who admitted to beating an 84-year-old woman, Irma Escobar said her mother still reacts to quick movements two years after she was abused.
Ofelia Escobar has her better moments, said her daughter, but the abuse at the hands of 65-year-old Alma Berlanga still takes its toll on the bedridden woman.
"You cannot just approach her because she'll jump," Irma Escobar said. "She still has it, and there's times she'll just start crying."
A stunning hidden surveillance tape showing Berlanga striking and force-feeding Escobar led a Bexar County jury to convict the caretaker in five minutes Monday on charges of abusing the elderly.
Escobar's daughter set up a camcorder when she suspected Berlanga of abusing her mother, and now, she makes everybody that takes care of her mother aware they are being watched.
"As I tell everybody now, they all know I videotape everyone else," Escobar said. "It's almost for your own protection."
Berlanga faces anywhere from two to 10 years in prison on the third-degree felony. She is expected to be sentenced in April.
Copyright 2008 by
KSAT.com
All rights reserved.
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.