Reporting Abuse and Filing Criminal Charges

In most cases, when elder abuse, financial exploitation, theft, or any other crime has happened or is happening, a call or report will be made to the local police or other law enforcement agency.

Reporting

This report may be made by the victim, a concerned person, or even a government agency.

Law Enforcement

The law enforcement officer who receives a report of the crime reviews the report and decides if there is enough information to look closer. If there is, the officer will take steps to gather more information. If the officer believes that a crime has been committed, the officer brings the information to the prosecutor for the possible filing of criminal charges with the court.

Prosecution

The prosecutor handles proving in court that the person accused of the crime, also called the defendant, committed the crime. The prosecutor is the attorney for the State of Iowa in the case, not the attorney for the victim of the crime. In most cases, the prosecutor will be the county attorney or the attorney general.

Generally, only a prosecutor can file criminal charges. The decision whether to file criminal charges is up to the prosecutor and the prosecutor decides which criminal charges will be filed. The prosecutor can also decide to dismiss (drop) or amend (change) criminal charges.

Though we might hear someone say that a victim agreed or did not want to “press charges,” it is the prosecutor who makes that decision, sometimes even when the victim does not want the abuser to be prosecuted. Sometimes a prosecutor may decide not to file criminal charges even though the victim or a family member wants the person prosecuted.