At a court hearing Thursday morning at the Maybrook courthouse, a Cook County grand jury handed down a one count indictment against Joseph S. Duffy, charging him with criminal abuse or neglect of a senior or disabled person.
According to Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the charge is a Class 2 felony. If convicted, Duffy could face between four and 14 years in prison.
Duffy is charged with neglecting his wife, Mary Jane, who died Sept. 1, 2011. Mary Jane Duffy suffered from dementia and was bedridden during the final year of her life. When police and local elder care caseworkers were called to the Duffys’ condominium on Aug. 23, 2011, they found Mary Jane curled in a fetal position, suffering from numerous bedsores and unresponsive.
Prosecutors allege that Joseph Duffy was continually abusive toward his wife and stood in the way of his wife being placed in nursing care because he didn’t want to lose income derived from his wife’s Social Security disability and pension checks.
Duffy, who is being held at Cook County Jail on $75,000 bond, will be arraigned before Judge Noreen Love in Room 105 of the Maybrook courthouse in Maywood on Aug. 10.
