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Like crimes committed on very young, violent attacks on the elderly carry with them a certain sort of depravity. Now, they will also carry stiffer penalties for the perpetrators.
Governor David Paterson last week signed into law legislation that would increase the penalty for assaulting a person over 65 if the attacker is ten years of more their junior. The crime will no longer be a class A misdemeanor, but will be considered a class D felony, which is punishable by up to seven years in prison.
“We cannot allow seniors to be targeted and assaulted simply because they are not physically able to defend themselves,” said State Senator Serphin Maltese, who along with State Senator Frank Padavan, also from Queens, and Brooklyn State Senator Martin Golden, was the primary sponsor of the bill.
“When anyone gets mugged and assaulted,” Maltese continued, “I consider it to be a serious crime, but assaulting the elderly is an outrageous and potentially life-threatening crime that calls out for more severe penalties.”
Known informally as “Granny’s Law,” the legislation was spurred by last year’s beatings of 101-year-old Rose Morat and 85-year-old Solange Elizee. The severity of one beating was captured on a surveillance camera, and shocked the city.
“This legislation sends a message that we intend to protect our seniors from those who seek to prey on our most vulnerable citizens,” said North Brooklyn Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, who sponsored the bill in the Assembly.
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