Warning: 90YO With Dementia Died After Son Kept Him Locked In A Blacked-Out Room CCTV Cameras Captured Man's Cries

[Sugar Cookie]

This is the thing that makes getting old so scary..... The other participant should not have his identity protected. Each of these scumbags should have served their sentences in a cold, damp, permanently dark room.

The final months of a 90-year-old man's life were spent locked in a cold, damp, permanently dark room with his cries for help ignored, according to a newly-released report.

Norman Lee died at Christchurch Hospital in New Zealand on July 9, 2020, after suffering from pneumonia and severe cardiovascular disease, 9 News reported. A coroner's inquiry was initially put on hold amid investigations.

Police discovered that Norman, a retired mechanical engineer, was living in horrific conditions during a property search on June 23, 2020, the outlet stated.

Norman’s son, David Lee, was jailed in 2022 for six years over the treatment of his father, per the New Zealand Herald and RNZ.

Alongside David, another person, who has interim name suppression, was also accused of locking Norman in a room for up to 16 hours a day, according to the New Zealand Herald. That person received a sentence of two years and seven months in prison for their role in Norman’s unhealthy living conditions, the outlet noted.

Two people, one of which was David, were convicted of multiple offenses, including failing to provide the necessities of life and keeping a vulnerable adult in unhealthy conditions, in 2022, according to 9 News. David was also convicted of offenses including forgery and theft.

A forensic pathologist stated that Norman's living environment and the neglect he experienced would have almost certainly made his dementia worse, increased his frailty and put him more at risk of developing pneumonia, 9 News reported. However, per the pathologist, a definitive link between that and his cause of death could not be drawn.

Norman was routinely locked inside a room with no ventilation and a large black sheet over the window for up to 16 hours a day, RNZ and the New Zealand Herald reported, citing authorities. This would happen frequently from 5 p.m. until 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. the following morning, per 9 News.

Police reportedly found that the light switches were taped in the off position in his room, while Norman, who was incontinent, was made to wear a wetsuit that he couldn't remove himself over an adult diaper, according to the outlets. CCTV cameras in the room captured his cries for help being ignored by occupants of the house, 9 News reported.

The police also found that his room, which had an inoperable heater, smelled overwhelmingly of feces, and his mattress was badly stained, while a deadbolt from outside kept him from exiting, according to the New Zealand Herald. It's unclear how long Norman was kept in those conditions.

The judge concluded that David's “sole motivation” for keeping his father locked away was to gain "uninterrupted access to significant sums of money," which were spent on vacations, vehicles and home entertainment systems, per 9 News.

Assault, forgery and 32 counts of theft after stealing over $150,000 were among David's convictions, the outlet noted. Having been sentenced for six years, he conceded to the Parole Board in June 2024 that it was accurate to describe his treatment of his father as “torture,” 9 News reported.

Investigations by Health New Zealand and the Health and Disability Comissionary found that on June 19, 2020, a senior social worker documented that she felt David and another person "had the best intentions to keep Norm safe,” after visiting the home, the outlet stated. She reportedly went on to leak a confidential plan by Norman's daughter to safely remove him from the house.

The Investigations by Health New Zealand and the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) concluded that the senior social worker had made a "serious error of judgement" that jeopardized the safety plan, 9 News noted. Her employment later ended and she has since retired.

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https://people.com/90-year-old-man-died-after-son-kept-him-locked-blacked-out-room-stealing-life-savings-11986241