An 11-year-old Elk Grove boy is facing charges of severely abusing his disabled mother to the point that she required medical treatment, authorities said.
Elk Grove police spokesman Christopher Trim said the boy, whose identity was not released because of his age, is in juvenile hall and charged with elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.
Trim said police received a phone call on Monday about possible abuse. Officers then visited the mother and confirmed several instances where the boy assaulted her with an eight to 10 foot long extension cord equipped with several outlets.
Trim said that the 51-year-old woman, whose identity was also not released because of her disability, suffered physical injuries to her arms, legs, feet, chest and groin area, but declined to address the extent of such injuries.
Soon after, officers visited the boy at Foulks Ranch Elementary School, where they spoke to him before placing him under arrest.
Trim said the extension cord was taken into evidence and the boy was taken to the Police Department for processing before being taken to juvenile hall.
Juvenile Court referee Natalie Lindsey, who appointed public defender Steven Garrett as the boy’s attorney, postponed the boy’s arraignment until Monday.
Trim considers this one of the more unusual cases he’s handled throughout his career because of the role reversal:
“A kid will go to school with marks or bruises, and someone calls police and the parent is arrested.”
Trim said that the child became his mother’s caregiver because of her medical condition, which Trim declined to discuss in detail.
Though she’s unfamiliar with the case, Laura McCasland, a county spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said that child labor laws prohibit anybody under the age of 14 from working as a caregiver under the In-Home Supportive Services program.
Trim said that the mother has been referred to – and will likely qualify for – the Sacramento County Adult Protective Services, a program designed to ensure the safety of elderly people and dependent adults.
APS program specialist Heidi Richardson said she was unable to confirm whether the mother was a client because of laws protecting privacy.
However, Richardson said that if APS receives the referral, a social worker will meet with the woman and offer her a wide range of services.
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