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“Being a nonagenarian is a privilege,” he said. “The popular wisdom says that those who respect the elderly pave their own road toward success. This brave and courageous woman fully deserves our respect and admiration.”

Piela said she trusts the judicial system will take its course in the criminal case. All she wants to know is why all this happened to her.

She feels safe in her new residence, though her trust in people is shaken and a toll has been taken on her health.

She’s been hospitalized twice since for high blood pressure and heart troubles. When doctors asked what was the cause of her stress, they didn’t initially believe what she told them; it sounded like a delusional story. They went so far as to have a psychiatrist evaluate her, who found nothing wrong.

Asked what she hopes for in the future, Piela thought about it, then spoke in Ukrainian to fully express herself. Her lawyer gave a rough translation: “Maybe one day the sun will shine for me.”

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Elder abuse: “It’s wildly under-reported,” experts say

Up to one in 10 Canadian senior citizens experiences some form of elder abuse, according to Statistics Canada.

“What’s scary about that number,” said Wanda Morris, of CARP Canada, a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of Canadian seniors, “is that we believe it’s also wildly under-reported.”

In most cases, the person being abused knows the abuser or is even a direct family member.

The same way someone might not report a case of spousal abuse to avoid their partner facing repercussions, a senior might not want to report his or her children, nieces or nephews. For those being taken care of at home, they might fear that reporting it could mean being moved into a residence, and would rather put up with the abuse.