Son duct taped 93 yo father to chair-arrested for elderly abuse

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/cops_and_courts/x705875080/Hanover-man-accused-of-neglecting-elderly-father-is-due-back-in-court
Hanover man accused of neglecting elderly father is due back in court
Dad, 93, left alone, cold, hungry and filthy, police say; son due in court
September 2, 2010

HANOVER —

Neighbors say they never got to know John T. Hallinan, who is accused of leaving his 93-year-old father in his home alone and in squalor each day he went off to work.

One man said that in the 20 years he has lived near him, Hallinan, 68, waved to him only once. Another neighbor told police that Hallinan, an engineer, typically goes to work at about 8 a.m. and returns by 5:30 p.m. but that she was unaware that his father was living with him.

Police went to Hallinan’s home on Brookwood Road on Monday afternoon when a cleaning woman called saying that she found his father on the floor in a diaper and in “deplorable conditions.”

An officer said in his police report that the father was in a T-shirt and a diaper lying on the floor in excrement. The man’s feet were swollen, with boils on them, his fingernails were long and dirty and he was shaking uncontrollably, the report said.

He was taken to South Shore Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition Wednesday.

The cleaning woman also told police that she found the father tied to a chair with duct tape on Aug. 23.

Hallinan was arrested Monday night on charges of assault and battery on a disabled person over 60 and assault and battery. He was held without bail after his arraignment Tuesday and is due back in Hingham District Court today for a hearing on whether he would pose a danger if released.

Police said Hallinan admitted that he had been overwhelmed caring for his father. A report by Hanover police Detective Jonathan Abban notes that Hallinan knew of his father’s ailments and that it had been about a year since he had seen a doctor.

He said his father had been living with him for about two years and that when he is at work his father is “on his own,” according to the police report.

Hallinan told the detective that he had used duct tape to secure his father to a chair while he was at work one time.

The cleaning woman told police that the father’s health had deteriorated during the past five months. She said he had lost a large amount of weight, was unable to get out of bed on his own or move around and was having difficulty feeding himself, police said.

She told officers that in the past few weeks he had told her that he was very cold and very hungry. She said she would feed him fruit cups and cheese and give him milk and water from “sippy cups.”

Abban said in his report that a doctor at South Shore Hospital said Hallinan’s father suffered from neglect. His condition included malnutrition, swollen feet and bed sores.
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