BREWER – Bruises are an obvious indicator of elder abuse, but abuse of older people in Maine usually has something to do with their pocketbooks, Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe said Friday during the Greater Bangor Coalition to End Elder Abuse fall conference.

“Unfortunately a lot of seniors in Maine are financially exploited by their sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters,” he said. “The younger person believes the older person somehow ‘owes’ them.”

Financial exploitation usually starts gradually and then escalates with time, he said.

“We’ve had sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters sell a home right out from underneath a relative or spend their life savings,” Rowe said. “I call it financial violence.”

It’s hard to tell exactly how many people are victims.

Maine officials estimate that one out of every 10 seniors in Maine is abused either physically, emotionally or psychologically or is financially exploited or neglected, either intentionally or unintentionally, by caregivers, sales people, and loved ones.

The figure is similar to other states, but Maine’s population is older.

“Unfortunately, elder abuse is a hidden problem” that is not reported by seniors because they often feel embarrassed, Rowe said.

“It robs them of something far more important [than money] – it robs them of their dignity,” he noted.

Every year an estimated 2.1 million older people across the country are victims of elder abuse, and for every case reported, it’s believed as many as five cases are not reported, Penobscot County Sheriff Glen Ross said at the conference.

Of those who report abuse, 64 to 68 percent live in the same house with the abuser, and a reported 80 percent depend on the abuser for care.

The conference, titled “Safety for Our Seniors: What You Can Do About Elder Abuse, Neglect & Exploitation,” included numerous community-response agencies, local law enforcement departments, and area agencies on aging.

Legal issues, medical issues and how the faith community can work to prevent abuse were discussed in panels during the daylong forum.

The group of 50 participants, mostly women, gathered to gain insight into the issue and what can be done to prevent abuse.

After a short speech that spotlighted elder abuse in Maine, Rowe participated on the legal issues panel with Ross, Rick Mooers from the Office of Elder Service, and Julie Mallet, who works for Legal Services for the Elderly.

One reason elder abuse is prevalent is that it’s easy, Ross said during the panel discussion.

“No one is taking the wallet of a 6-foot, 5-inch guy,” he said, adding later: “[Seniors] are the most trusting and the most exploited.”

The good news is that in the nearly three decades Ross has been in local law enforcement, things have changed and enforcement has increased.

“Twenty-seven years ago when I started this, elder abuse wasn’t an issue” because it was treated as a civil matter, Ross said. Nowadays, elder abuse is considered a criminal offense, he said.

“Law enforcement is just beginning to understand what’s happening behind closed doors,” Ross said.

The problem of elder abuse is only going to become more prevalent in Maine, because of the state’s aging population, Rowe said.

“We’re growing older faster than the rest of the United States,” he said. “One out of every seven is 65 or older now and 15 years down the road, it will be one in five. At 2020 or so, 20 percent of our population will be 65 or older.”

Elder abuse, like every other form of violence, is not acceptable and will not be tolerated, the attorney general said.

“We’re starting to pull back the curtain” and expose the abuse in Maine, Rowe said. “We’re not going to hide this any more. We’re going to be proactive and empower seniors” to protect themselves.

“We’re taking down the walls of silence,” he said. “Knowledge is power.”