By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – U.S. Senator Kit Bond says abuse of the elderly is a crime on par with child and spousal abuse.
The Missouri Republican heard testimony from victims' relatives at a Senate hearing in St. Louis Wednesday.
Bond says elder abuse sometimes occurs at nursing homes, but abandonment and financial exploitation of seniors often goes unreported.
"People need to know that we have defenseless elder people who are being neglected, beaten up, exploited, abused, and too often, there's no recourse," Bond said.
Bond is co-sponsoring a bill that would require FBI background checks for employees of federally-funded nursing homes, and create two federal Elder Justice agencies.