Elderly Abuse Victim Had Socks Fused to Feet, Wounds on Backside: Police

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An elderly Bethesda woman reportedly neglected by her son was found with newspaper used to pack wounds on her body and socks that were fused to her feet, authorities say.

Detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department’s Elder/Vulnerable Adult Abuse Unit have arrested James Kirkland, 57, of the 6000 block of Beech Avenue in Bethesda, and have charged him with causing abuse to his 87-year-old mother.

Kirkland was a Republican candidate for Montgomery County Council District 1 in 2014. In a campaign video, he said he was a libertarian who hoped to represent truckers, millenials and single people in the county who are being shoved out of the area by the elite.

On May 1, Montgomery County Fire & Rescue responded to Kirkland’s home and took his mother to the hospital. Montgomery County Adult Protective Services was notified that the elderly woman showed signs of possible neglect and abuse; police were then contacted.

Medical staff told police the victim had wounds on her backside and legs that were packed with newspaper and a powdery substance; when the newspaper was removed, the victim’s spine was visible. The victim also had to have compression socks surgically removed because they had become fused to her feet, police say.

Investigators say Kirkland was the primary caretaker of his mother.

Police charged Kirkland with causing abuse that resulted in serious physical injury to his mother, who is a vulnerable adult, (a felony), and causing abuse to his mother in his role as a caregiver (a misdemeanor). He has been released on bond.

Police say the victim remains in the hospital in very serious condition.

»Photo of James Kirkland, courtesy of Montgomery County Police

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