At a vulnerable time in his life, Jerry Williams helped a young man who cried out for assistance.

The willingness to help that youth, who Williams had coached in high school, ended up costing the 78-year-old Roseville resident more than the $700,000 stolen from him.

“I trusted him, his family and he lied to me,” Williams said. “It almost destroyed me.”

Williams’ story is one of many elder abuse cases surfacing in Placer County, according to officials from the Placer County District Attorney’s Office.

“It was a situation of a vulnerable victim being taken advantage of by someone he trusted,” said Jim Deslaurier, deputy district attorney assigned to the elder abuse unit. “This could sum up 90 percent of our cases.”

As the baby boomer population grows older, Deslaurier and deputy district attorney Scott Owens said the number of potential elder abuse victims is “growing exponentially.”

And while there are cases of suspects who target elderly residents, elder abuse perpetrators are typically family members or close friends, Deslaurier said.

“It’s almost always someone that they know,” Deslaurier said.

And during hard economic times, Deslaurier said a “perfect storm” of situations is brewing.

On one hand, elderly residents are typically the ones who have accumulated significant sums of money through saving and don’t have a lot of large expenses such as mortgages because they bought homes and were able to pay them off by now.

In contrast, their younger children and grandchildren are struggling during a tough economy to pay for their homes and daily expenses.

In Williams’ case Josh Correa was someone he had coached for four years on the Oakmont High School golf team. Williams had gotten to know Correa and his family. He said he’d often golf with Correa’s father.

“I was almost like a part of the family,” Williams said.

After Correa graduated, he saw him occasionally to golf but hadn’t heard from him in several months until the day when the 27-year-old called. The call came a few days after Williams held a memorial ceremony for his recently deceased wife and after he had been diagnosed with cancer.

So when Correa called in tears asking for money to keep him out of prison, Williams said he wanted to help.

“He said, ‘I’ll kill myself before I go to prison,’” Williams said.

Williams said he wanted to help not only Correa but also his parents, who had sincerely befriended him years earlier.

“I just wanted to help his family,” Williams said. “I liked the kid.”

The first loan was about $9,000.

“That was supposed to solve all his problems,” Williams said.

Then Correa asked if Williams wanted to join in a business venture to sell a golf self-help tool. Williams agreed and put $67,000 into the project. Later Correa asked if Williams could help sponsor him through PGA school – a cost of $30,000.

One of the final ideas Correa proposed was to amass a large collection of rare coins. Williams contributed some of his rare coins to the collection – coins he would never see again.

Williams wouldn’t find out until a little more than a year later that Correa was gambling the money away at area casinos and was selling Williams’ rare coins for more gambling money.

Things reached a breaking point when Williams said he and Correa were supposed to go to a rare coins conference. It never panned out. Williams said he had suspected Correa earlier but was at a point where he was holding out that he could recoup his money.

“I was worried and concerned but I kept thinking I’ll get a bunch of my money back when we sold the coins,” Williams said.

The financial cost of Correa’s actions added up to a $700,000 loss for Williams, which included the loans he made to him and the credit card debts from the 12 cards Correa had opened in Williams’ name without his knowledge. Additionally, Correa had opened a second $300,000 mortgage on Williams’ house so Williams was facing eviction from a home he had paid off 10 years earlier.

But there was also another loss.

“Not only is it the financial loss, but also the emotional loss of a relationship,” Owens said.

Owens added that often victims have a hard time coming forward because they are either unaware of what’s happening, they don’t want to lose a relationship with a friend or family member, or they are embarrassed.

Williams agreed.

“It was a very hard decision because I didn’t want to turn him in earlier when I started to suspect he wasn’t using the money as he said he would,” Williams said. “It was very hard because I really respected and liked his parents.”

Williams would later hear from Correa’s father, who apologized for his son and said he had done the same thing to them.

Williams’ story, however, does have a happy ending.

After Correa pleaded guilty to several felony counts of financial elder abuse and several related felony theft charges, he was sentenced to seven years and eight months in state prison May 30, 2008. Eight months of the sentence were for probation violation for prior thefts from a Rocklin coin shop.

Correa was also required to pay a little more than $679,000 in restitution to Williams.

Following the sentence, the District Attorney’s Office was granted a request to deem Williams a victim of identity theft.

Williams’ debts were forgiven, and he regained ownership of his home.

During Correa’s sentencing, Williams stood to read aloud a letter to the young man he had coached.

Williams said he told Correa how he had ruined his dreams of being able to play at the famed professional golf course, Pebble Beach, and travel to historic landmarks like Gettysburg.

But now, about a year after that day, Williams proudly boasts pictures and gear from his Pebble Beach trip where he shot a 93. He and a new companion are also planning a trip to the East Coast this summer.

“I’m very fortunate to come out of this thing,” Williams said.

The Journal's Jenifer Gee can be reached at jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com or post a comment.

----------

Elder abuse: What you don’t know could make you a suspect.

What is elder abuse?

There is a special section of the state penal code for elder abuse. It covers any crime committed where the victim is someone who is 65 or older. The code also makes exceptions for those who are younger but are still vulnerable, such as a dependant adult. The special section means those convicted of elder abuse could receive a harsher sentence.

How do I avoid becoming a victim?

- Protect your financial interests such as bankcards and checkbooks. Don’t leave information out in plain sight around your home. Some cases involve housekeepers who take information from homeowners.

- Be wary of new friends who suddenly come into your life.

How do I avoid abusing an elder?

Jim Deslaurier, deputy district attorney assigned to the elder abuse unit, said oftentimes family members don’t realize that their actions can fall under elder abuse. For example, some children will use the power of attorney they have over their parents to use their parents’ money to buy themselves a new car.

“With elder abuse there are still a lot of people who genuinely believe they weren’t doing anything wrong,” Deslaurier said.

Not your typical abuse cases

There are three categories into which elder abuse cases generally fall.

1. The most common is financial elder abuse. This involves forgery, embezzlement, identity theft and more.

2. Physical abuse.

3. Elder neglect. “You don’t have to proactively harm someone for it to be elder abuse,” said Jim Deslaurier, deputy district attorney assigned to the elder abuse unit. “Inaction is as criminal as action.”

Who can I talk to?

- For more information about elder abuse, call Laura Conrad, elder victim advocate for the Placer District Attorney’s Office at (916) 543-2562.

----------