In a suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, November 25, Casey’s children and brother accused Jean of elder abuse and inflicting emotional distress on the children by restricting access to their father before his passing.
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The America Top 40 host had a form of dementia and severe bedsores when he died.
Kasem’s children claim that their stepmother repeatedly left him in a hospital after he was ready to be discharged. “On Decemeber 30, 2013, after languishing in the hospital due to Jean’s failure to pick him up, Casey began suffering sepsis and shock and was moved to the intensive care unit, where he stayed until January 3, 2014”.
Earlier this year, prosecutors in Los Angeles reportedly refused to charge the widow with elder abuse, saying that there wasn’t enough evidence against her.
Casey and Jean were married from 1980 until his death. Kerri, Julie and Michael are children from a previous marriage. The lawsuit has also given details about many confrontations regarding Kasem’s care, and said that his body was taken to Norway by Jean Kasem, where the body was buried in an unnamed grave.
“What she did to my father is reprehensible”, daughter Kerri Kasem said, according to AP. We don’t care about the money.
T. Michael Soroy, Jean Kasem’s lawyer, didn’t instantly reply to a phone name and e mail in search of remark. His voice was heard as the character Shaggy in the “Scooby-Doo” TV cartoons and in numerous commercials. “We care about justice”.
Before Casey died in June 2014, an LA judge removed the decision-making authority from Jean after she moved Casey from a Santa Monica medical facility to a friend’s house in Washington. Casey started “American Top 40” in 1970.
He famously ended his broadcasts with his signature sign-off: “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars”.
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By filing this civil case, the Casey kin hope to raise awareness about elder abuse. “People are going through this across the country every single day”, she added.
