Lockport man found guilty of criminal neglect of his elderly father
June 6
JOLIET – Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow announced that a jury Monday night found a Lockport man who allowed his bedridden father to develop massive bedsores that eventually proved fatal guilty of criminal neglect of an elderly person.
Keith Condon, 41, faces two to five years in prison when he is sentenced before Associate Judge Robert Livas on Aug. 11. Probation also is a sentencing option.Criminal neglect of an elderly person is a Class 3 felony.
Condon was the caregiver for his 71-year-old father, William K. Condon Jr., who died in March 2002 after developing more than a dozen bedsores, the largest of which was nine inches long and exposed bone along his lower back and buttocks.
Dr. Bryan Mitchell, who performed the autopsy on the elderly man, testified during a five-day trial that began last week that William Condon died from infections and pneumonia caused by his ulcers.
The bedsores covered William Condon’s legs, buttocks and back. They ranged in severity from Class 1 surface ulcers to Class 4 ulcers that took weeks to develop and tore through fat and muscle down to the bone, Mitchell testified.
Prosecutors Nicole Moore and Christopher Regis entered photographs of William Condon’s wounds into evidence to illustrate for jurors the level of neglect. The photographs were taken after the elderly man’s death.
The charge against Keith Condon alleged that he failed to take action necessary to preserve his father’s health.
Testimony and evidence during the trial revealed that Keith Condon called a doctor at 1:30 a.m. on March 20, 2002 when his father began to experience trouble breathing. Dr. Donald Gerry, a family physician, urged Keith Condon to take his father to the hospital immediately. But Keith Condon waited nearly 12 hours to take his father to the emergency room at Silver Cross Hospital.
William Condon, who had suffered multiple strokes and had been confined to a bed in his son’s home, died at 3:50 a.m. on March 21, 2002.
“Caring for an elderly bedridden parent is a solemn responsibility,” Glasgow said.
“To repay a parent’s unconditional love with such wretched neglect is unconscionable. This verdict sends a strong message to anyone caring for the elderly that it must be done with dignity and respect for the human condition. Anything less will not be tolerated.”
The state’s attorney also credited prosecutors Moore and Regis for their sensitive handling of the case and for preserving the late William Condon’s dignity during the trial.