Vulnerable adult abuse

MUSKEGON, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Muskegon residents are shocked and angered after an 85-year-old woman was found in the worst of conditions.

"Nobody should have been left in those conditions, nobody," said Chief Tony Kleibecker of the Muskegon Police Dept. "I wouldn't leave an animal in those conditions, let alone a human being, let alone your mom."

The woman's home has been condemned, and police say her living conditions were the fault of her own family.

50-year-old Mark Anderson is in a Muskegon County Jail on Wednesday, charged with elder abuse. It was his mother who police found lying on a couch, surrounded by filth and a sickening smell.

Anderson is being held on $10,000 bond after an initial appearance in court Wednesday.

Some folks in Muskegon are having a very difficult time with the case, the fact that a woman was living like this with her son inside the home.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Newschannel 3 got a peak inside the house, the pictures show a house that literally sits across the street from Hackley Hospital. There was garbage everywhere inside, the structure was literally falling apart.

Some in the neighborhood are outraged at the mess, and outraged that for weeks 85-year-old Lucille Anderson laid on a couch inside the house, covered in her own waste, unable to get up and get some care.

"If he didn't want to take care of her he could have helped her out," said Jessica Mellifont, a neighbor. "Putting her in the nursing home, not saying what should have happened, there's a hospital right there too, he could have easily brought her over here."

Mark Anderson was responsible for his mother's car, and is now charged with vulnerable adult abuse, a felony that says he didn't provide necessary care, but prosecutors stopped short of charging Mark with an intentional act of neglect.

"This isn't a case of a mistake involving the care of his mother," said Brett Gardner, Chief Assistant Prosecutor, "these are conditions that are extremely deplorable."

Lucille Anderson is now in the care of Adult Social Services so she can get the medical help she needs.

Unfortunately, when Newschannel 3 asked questions about how this could have been prevented, few have any answers.

"There's really no explanation for it," Gardner said.

Two of Lucille's other children live in the area, but the investigation is focusing on Mark and what he failed to do over an entire three week period.

"How could you do that?" asked Mellifont. "Personally, I think he is sick in the head to do that to his own mother."

Newschannel 3 spoke with a family member of the Andersons who says that both mother and son are mentally ill and shouldn't be held accountable for this. They said Mark needs help, not prison time.