Just like other states in the US, Florida has criminal codes that guide the law enforcement officers on how to prosecute and charge people with various criminal activities. The scenario provided for this assignment shows that Pestinikas and his wife failed to carry out their promise to provide a 92-year-old elderly woman with food, medicine, and other necessities even after receiving the necessary payment. It is clear that they got involved in a criminal activity for failing to provide the elderly person with the materials she needed to keep her safe and alive. Therefore, they are entitled to various forms of punishment under the Florida Criminal Code.
Chapter 825 of the Florida Criminal Code provides the conditions for punishing people who have taken part in the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of elderly persons and disabled adults (H & W, 2017) . The scenario provided above shows that Pestinikas and his wife duly received payment and agreed to take care of the 92-old-women through provision of medication, food, and other necessities, however, they failed to honor the agreement and never refunded the money. Therefore, they can be found with two counts of felony namely exploitation and neglect of an elderly person. The law terms the act of taking money from someone and failing to do the right thing as an act of exploitation.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
It is clear that the Pestinikas exploited the 92-year-old helpless woman by lying to her that they would provide her with all the things she needed to keep her safe, a live and improve her health. However, they did not provide her with food as they agreed to, hence making her be malnourished and eventually died due to lack of adequate food supply. The people did not allow the elderly woman to have access to medication as often as was expected of her. This did not only jeopardise her health status but also denied her the chance to get medical attention on time. Moreover, they failed to provide all other necessities, which is an act of negligence towards the elderly person.
Section 775.804 of chapter 825 of Florida Criminal Law states that any caregiver who fails or omits to provide an elderly person with supervision, care, and other activities necessary for effective survival such as but not limited to food, nutrition, medication, shelter, and other services needed to keep the person safe commits the felony negligence (The Florida Senate, 2013) . The chapter further states that any person who wilfully or by culpable neglects an elderly person and causes great bodily harm such as substantial injury or death, psychological or physical harm to an elderly person is punishable by the law as per the provisions of sections 775.082 or 775.083 of Florida criminal code.
The Florida Criminal Code also states that any person who wilfully exploits an elderly person is also liable to punishment by the laws of Florida. Chapter 25.103 of the act states that if a person knowingly, by intimidation, or by deception exploits an elderly person off money or property then that individual is liable for punishment under the law. It further states that if the money is more than $100,000 the offence is considered first degree and is punishable by sections 775.082 or 775.083 and 775.084 of the Florida Criminal Code (The Florida Senate, 2013) . However, if the funds are more than $20,000, then the person commits second-degree felony and is punishable according to the provisions of the above section of the law in the state. However, if the money is less than $ 20,000 then, the offense is first degree and punishable by the relevant provision of similar section of the Florida Criminal Code.
References
H&W. (2017). Culpable negligence- Florida. Florida: H&W.
The Florida Senate. (2013). 2013 Florida Statutes. Florida: The Florida Senate.
