Boston, MA— Representative Demetrius J. Atsalis (D- Hyannis) announced today that the House of Representatives and the Senate have enacted legislation he filed that will extend the time-period a person can report unsubstantiated elder abuse. The legislation, House No. 1490 as amended, changes the current reporting timeframe a person can be investigated for an unsubstantiated report of elder abuse from the three month limit now mandated to three full years, and also would require that any state agency receiving an unsubstantiated report of elder abuse to annually report these incidents to the Commissioner of Elder Affairs. The legislation will give law enforcement officials the tools to study these reports and to determine if patterns of abuse have occurred.

"This new change to the current reporting law will allow state officials the continuity to investigate these allegations of elder abuse without having the constraints of starting over each time a claim exceeds the three month limit," Atsalis said. "Now, state and law enforcement officials will have the power to continuously keep these claims open and to fully investigate the people that commit these horrible crimes against one of our most vulnerable populations, the elderly."

Barnstable County District Attorney Michael O’Keefe, said, "This is an important piece of legislation, I feel, because we owe our elder citizens the highest level of protection that we can give them. It is important to maintain the ability to look back and determine whether a person has victimized elders in the past as we are assessing current cases involving the same perpetrator. I would like to thank Representative Atsalis for his support and sponsorship of this bill."

Caronanne Procaccini, Director of Client Services of the Community Action Committee of Cape Cod and the Islands, said that "Cape United Elders applauds Representative Atsalis for passing this significant legislation. This Act provides investigators with substantial time to track complaints and gather enough documentation to determine if an elder is being abused or exploited."

The unsubstantiated abuse reporting legislation has been sent to Governor Romney for his signature.