What Is Considered Elder Abuse in Texas? Types and Penalties

Under Texas law, elder abuse is any physical, sexual, emotional, or financial harm — or serious neglect or abandonment — directed at a person 65 or older by a caretaker, family member, or someone else with an ongoing relationship to them. What is considered elder abuse in Texas also reaches omissions: a caregiver who withholds food, medication, or medical attention is treated the same as one who causes injury by direct act.¹ Most elder abuse offenses are felonies, and every person who suspects abuse has a legal duty to report it.

Who Counts as “Elderly” in Texas

Two age thresholds coexist, and they get mixed up often. For the criminal statutes that create enhanced penalties, an “elderly individual” is someone 65 or older. The same 65-year line governs who qualifies for an Adult Protective Services investigation.²

Certain civil protections start earlier, at age 60, under Chapter 102 of the Human Resources Code. Those include the right to manage personal finances, access medical records, be free from restraints used for discipline, and complain about care without retaliation.³ So a 62-year-old has statutory rights, but the enhanced criminal penalties for elder abuse only apply once the victim turns 65.

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse covers more than hitting. Texas Penal Code Section 22.04 makes it an offense to cause bodily injury, serious bodily injury, or serious mental deficiency or impairment to an elderly person. The offense can be committed by act or by omission, so a caregiver who deliberately withholds necessary care until physical harm results is treated the same as someone who strikes a blow.¹

The statute also reaches owners, operators, and employees of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and group homes, holding them liable for harm caused by criminal negligence through omission. A nursing aide who ignores a resident’s deteriorating condition can face the same type of charge as one who physically hurts the resident.

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse of an elderly person means any involuntary or nonconsensual sexual conduct that would constitute indecent exposure or an assaultive offense under the Penal Code. The Human Resources Code specifies that the conduct must involve a caretaker, family member, or someone with an ongoing relationship to the victim.² Physical resistance by the victim is not required.

Emotional and Psychological Abuse

Not every injury leaves bruises. The Human Resources Code’s definition of abuse includes intimidation, humiliation, harassment, and threats of punishment.⁴ On the criminal side, Section 22.04 reaches conduct causing “serious mental deficiency, impairment, or injury.” When done intentionally or knowingly, that is a first-degree felony carrying up to life in prison.¹

Emotional abuse is the hardest category to prove because the damage is internal, but it tends to leave patterns investigators recognize: a once-social person who becomes withdrawn, a caregiver who belittles the senior in front of others, or a relative who uses threats of abandonment or nursing home placement to maintain control.

Neglect and Abandonment

Neglect is a caretaker’s failure to provide goods or services necessary to avoid physical or emotional harm, including medical care.² The definition is broad enough to reach a live-in relative who does not ensure the senior eats, a home health aide who skips medication doses, or anyone responsible for care who lets a medical condition go untreated. Signs include preventable bedsores, malnutrition, dehydration, untreated infections, and unsanitary living conditions.

Abandonment is a more extreme form: leaving an elderly person in any situation where they face an unreasonable risk of harm, whether that means physically deserting someone who cannot care for themselves or walking away from a caregiving arrangement without arranging a replacement. Under Section 22.04, omissions by a person who has assumed care, custody, or control of an elderly individual are criminal if they cause injury.

Self-Neglect

Texas also recognizes self-neglect, which is a person’s own failure to provide the goods or services necessary to avoid physical or emotional harm, including medical care.² It is not a crime, but it is a basis for an APS investigation. Common signs include refusing medical treatment, severe hoarding, unsanitary or unsafe living conditions, malnutrition, and untreated chronic illness.

These cases are among the hardest APS handles because the person causing the harm and the person being harmed are the same. Texas respects the right of competent adults to make their own decisions, so intervention typically requires evidence that the person’s mental or physical condition prevents them from making informed choices about their own care. In the most serious situations, a court may appoint a guardian.

Financial Exploitation

Financial exploitation is one of the most common forms of elder abuse. The Human Resources Code defines it as the illegal or improper use of an elderly person’s resources for someone else’s monetary or personal benefit, without informed consent. Consent obtained through deception or coercion does not count.² The perpetrator must be a caretaker, family member, or someone with an ongoing relationship to the victim.

Criminally, Penal Code Section 32.53 makes it a third-degree felony to intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly cause the exploitation of an elderly individual, punishable by two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.⁵ Typical scenarios include someone with power of attorney draining a bank account, cashing Social Security checks without authorization, pressuring the senior into changing a will, or using the elderly person’s identity to open credit accounts.

A separate statute, Section 32.45, covers misapplication of fiduciary property. It often applies when a trustee, executor, or attorney-in-fact diverts assets they were supposed to manage. Penalties scale with the value involved, from a Class C misdemeanor at the low end up to a first-degree felony for amounts of $200,000 or more. Prosecutors sometimes charge both offenses when the facts support it.

Criminal Penalties Under Section 22.04

The penalty for injury to an elderly individual depends on the severity of the harm and the offender’s mental state. The more deliberate the conduct and the worse the injury, the higher the tier.

First-degree felony, 5 to 99 years or life and up to a $10,000 fine, for intentionally or knowingly causing serious bodily injury or serious mental deficiency or impairment.¹
Second-degree felony, 2 to 20 years and up to a $10,000 fine, for recklessly causing serious bodily injury or serious mental deficiency or impairment.⁵
Third-degree felony, 2 to 10 years and up to a $10,000 fine, for intentionally or knowingly causing bodily injury.
State jail felony, 180 days to 2 years and up to a $10,000 fine, for recklessly causing bodily injury or causing any level of harm through criminal negligence.

Who Can Be Held Responsible

Texas defines the relevant perpetrators broadly. Abuse, neglect, and exploitation under the Human Resources Code generally require a caretaker, family member, or someone with an ongoing relationship to the elderly person.² In practice, that covers most people with access and opportunity: adult children, spouses, grandchildren, and other relatives; paid and unpaid in-home caregivers; staff at nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and group homes; and fiduciaries such as powers of attorney and trustees.

When abuse happens in a facility, the corporate entity that owns or operates it can also face responsibility. Facility owners control staffing levels, supplies, and compensation, and cuts to those resources that compromise patient care can support direct liability in civil litigation.

Mandatory Reporting and the Penalty for Silence

Texas imposes a reporting duty on every person who has cause to believe an elderly individual is being abused, neglected, or exploited. The obligation applies even when the knowledge came through a confidential professional relationship, including attorneys, clergy, doctors, social workers, and mental health professionals. Reports must be made immediately to the Department of Family and Protective Services.⁶

Failing to report is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $4,000, or both. You do not need to prove abuse occurred before reporting. A reasonable basis for suspicion is enough; investigators will determine what actually happened.

Where to Report

The right agency depends on where the abuse is happening and how urgent the situation is.

Immediate danger: call 911 or your local law enforcement agency.⁴
Abuse in the community, outside a facility: contact Adult Protective Services at 1-800-252-5400 or online at TxAbuseHotline.org. The hotline runs 24/7 and accepts anonymous reports.
Abuse in a nursing home or by a home health provider: Texas Department of State Health Services, 1-800-458-9858.
Abuse in a Medicaid-funded long-term care facility: Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, 1-800-252-8011.

If you are unsure which agency fits, start with the APS hotline. They will redirect the report if needed.

What Happens After a Report

APS initiates an investigation within 24 hours of receiving a report. How quickly an investigator makes face-to-face contact depends on priority level:⁷

Priority I: within 24 hours.
Priority II: within 3 calendar days.
Priority III: within 7 calendar days.
Priority IV (financial exploitation without imminent impoverishment): within 14 calendar days.

The investigator assesses what is happening, what services the person needs, and whether the situation can be resolved voluntarily or requires legal action. APS can arrange financial assistance for rent and utilities, social and health services, community referrals, and in serious cases emergency court orders for protective services. If the investigation reveals criminal conduct, APS refers the case to law enforcement.

Civil Lawsuits as a Separate Path

Criminal prosecution is not the only option. Victims of elder abuse, or their families, can bring civil lawsuits against individual perpetrators and, in institutional cases, against the facilities and their corporate owners. Common theories include negligence, wrongful death when abuse results in a fatality, and breach of fiduciary duty when a legal representative misuses their authority. Texas generally allows two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury suit, though the clock may start later if the abuse was not immediately discovered.

Civil litigation serves a different purpose than criminal charges. It lets families recover compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and other losses. In nursing home cases, naming the corporate entity that controls staffing and budget decisions is often essential, because a judgment against the facility alone can be difficult to collect.

1
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code Section 22-04 – Injury to a Child, Elderly Individual, or Disabled Individual
2
State of Texas. Texas Human Resources Code Section 48-002 – Definitions
3
State of Texas. Texas Human Resources Code Section 102-003 – Rights of the Elderly
4
Office of the Attorney General. How to Spot and Report Elder Abuse and Neglect
5
Office of the Attorney General. Penal Code Offenses by Punishment Range
6
State of Texas. Texas Human Resources Code Chapter 48 – Investigations and Protective Services for Elderly Persons
7
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. APS Investigations and Services