Thе state charged defendant with 14 counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment based on withdrawals he made from accounts belonging to his elderly mother and mother-in-law, each of whom had signed documents giving him power of attorney over their financial affairs. Defendant, who reрaid some of the money he had withdrawn from the accounts, said that the withdrawals were loans.
As relevant here, a person commits first-degree criminal mistreatment if the person, having assumed the care of an elderly person, “intentionally or knowingly” “takes” or “apprоpriates” the elderly person’s money or property for “any use or purpose not in the due and lawful execution of the person’s responsibility [.] ” ORS 163.205(l)(b)(D). Anticipating that defendant would argue at trial that he did not “take” or “appropriate” money from his mother and mothеr-in-law, but merely “borrowed” it, the state filed a motion in limine, asking the trial court to hold that ORS 163.205 (l)(b)(D) applies to both temporary and permanent deprivations of property. The state argued that, unlike the theft statute, the criminal mistreatment statute does not require the state “to prove a permanent deprivation of property as being the mental state * * * of taking and appropriating.” The trial court granted the motion. Thereafter, defendant entered conditional guilty pleas, reserving his right to appeal the trial court’s ruling interpreting ORS RlS^OSOLXbXD).
The meaning of a statutory term is a question of law, which we review for errors of law. State v. Serrano,
First-degree criminal mistreatment is defined by ORS 163.205, which provides, in part:
“(1) A person commits the crime of criminal mistreatment in the first degree if:
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“(b) The person, in violation of a legal duty to provide care for a dependent person or elderly person, or having assumed thе permanent or temporary care, custody or responsibility for the supervision of a dependent person or elderly person, intentionally or knowingly.
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“(D) Hides the dependent person’s or elderly person’s money or property or takes the money or property for, or appropriates the money or property to, any use or purpose not in the due and lawful execution of the person’s responsibility [.] ”
(Emphasis added.) Thus, to prove that a person has committed first-degree criminal mistreatment under ORS 163.205(l)(b)(D), the state must prove that the person (1) had a legal duty to provide care for an elderly or dependent person or had assumed the care or supervision of the elderly or dependent person and (2) intentionally or knowingly hid, took, or appropriated the elderly or dependent person’s money or property for a use not in the due and lawful execution of the person’s responsibility.
In this case, the parties dispute the meaning of “takes” and “appropriates” within ORS 163.205(l)(b)(D). Defendant contends that both terms require a permanent deprivation of property. In defendant’s view, “[m]erely using [an elderly person’s money or property] inappropriatеly (such as taking a personal loan or driving the elderly person’s car on a personal errand), without permanently depriving the elderly person of the use and value of the money or property, does not fall within the conduct prohibited by the statute.” Because it is disрositive, we turn to the question of whether, for the purposes of ORS 163.205(l)(b)(D), “take” requires a permanent deprivation.
The term “take” is not defined for the purposes of ORS 163.205(l)(b)(D). “In the absence of a statutorily provided definition, we ordinarily assume that the legislature intended the words of the statute to carry their plain, natural, and ordinary meanings.” State v. Spears,
The context of ORS 163.205(l)(b)(D) supports that view. A statute’s context includes “related statutes” that existed at the time the statute in question was enacted, State v. Klein,
Here, both parties suggest that the theft statute, ORS 164.015, provides context for the criminal mistreatment statute. Defendant argues that the theft statute, which also uses the term “takes,” requires an intent to permanently deprive another of property and that the legislature intended to incorporate that requirement when it subsequently enacted the criminal mistreatment statute. The state disagrees, аsserting that differences between the theft statute and the criminal mistreatment statute indicate that, although theft requires an intent to permanently deprive another of property, criminal mistreatment does not. We agree with the state.
In support of his argument, defendant relies on Spears. In that case we analyzed the definition of theft set out at ORS 164.015, which provides, “A person commits theft when, with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate property to the person or to a third person, the person *** [t]akes, appropriates, obtains or withholds such prоperty from an owner thereof[.]” Based on the text, context, and legislative history of the theft statutes, we concluded that, for the purposes of ORS 164.015, “take” requires “securing dominion and control over the personal property of another” and “some movement of that property.” Spears,
To be sure, theft requires an intent to permanently deprive a person of property, but the source of that requirement is not the term “take”; instead, it is the culpable mental state requirement that applies to theft, namely, that the person acts “with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate property to the person or to a third person!.]” ORS 164.015. Both “deprive” and “appropriate” are dеfined for the purposes of the theft statutes by ORS 164.005, and each definition refers to an interference with property that is either permanent or so extensive as to deprive the property owner of the major portion of the economic value or benеfit of the property. Specifically, ORS 164.005(1) provides that “[a]ppropriate” means to “exercise control over property of another * * * permanently or for so extended a period or under such circumstances as to acquire the major pоrtion of the economic value or benefit of such property” or “dispose of the property of another for the benefit of oneself or a third person.” Similarly, ORS 164.005(2) provides that “deprive” means to “withhold property of another * ⅜ * permanently or for so еxtended a period or under such circumstances that the major portion of its economic value or benefit is lost to that person” or “dispose of the property in such manner or under such circumstances as to render it unlikely that an owner will recover such property.” As we have observed,
“[t]he legislature crafted the definitions of ‘appropriate’ and ‘deprive’ in ORS 164.005(1) and (2) in such a way *** as to ‘retain the traditional distinction’ between larceny, which requires a thief to intend permanent or virtually permanent loss to the owner оf the possession and use of property, and offenses that require the intent to obtain only temporary possession of property or to cause temporary loss to its owner.”
As the state points out, although the theft statute was enacted as part of the 1971 revision of the criminal code and the criminal mistreatment provision at issue here, ORS 163.205(l)(b)(D), was not enacted until 1993, the criminal mistreatment provision does not include a requirement that a person act “with intent to deprive another of property or to appropriate property to the person or to a third person.” That omission is telling; if the legislature had intended to include in ORS 163.205(l)(b)(D) a requirement that the person intend the taking to be permаnent, it could have done so as it had done in the theft statute. See State v. Pusztai,
ORS 163.205(l)(b)(D) has a culpablе mental state requirement; it is simply different from that for theft. It requires that a person intentionally or knowingly take money or property for a use other than one in the due and lawful course of the person’s responsibilities. To also require that the person intend to keep the property permanently would be to improperly insert a requirement that the legislature omitted. ORS 174.010 (when interpreting a statute, courts shall “not * * * insert what has been omitted”).
The legislative history of the criminal mistreatment statute supports the view that the legislature did not intend ORS 163.205(l)(b)(D) to rеquire proof of an intent to permanently deprive another of money or property. The history shows that the legislature was concerned about the financial exploitation of elderly persons, which could take many forms. The legislators intended to craft a statute that would cover “the misappropriation of dollars under various guises.” Tape Recording, House Committee on Judiciary, HB 2318, Apr 12, 1993, Tape 22, Side A (statement of Rep Bob Tiernan). They drafted (and redrafted) the statute with the goal of making it broad enough to capturе exploitative acts, but not so broad that it would also capture voluntary distributions of property by elderly persons or other persons acting in a manner consistent with a caretaking or supervisory role. See, e.g., id. (stating that the overall approach was to make thе statute broad enough to cover conduct constituting financial abuse); see also State v. Bevil,
The legislature’s expressed intent for the statute to have a broad reach in order to capture financial abuse of the elderly in its various forms demonstrates that the legislature intended ORS 163.205(l)(b)(D) to apply to the exercise of dominion or control over an elderly person’s money or property, without the elderly person’s voluntary consent, for a purpose not in the due and lawful execution of the person’s responsibility. The dominion or control may be intended to be temporary or permanent. Thus, ORS 163.205(l)(b)(D) encompasses situations where a caregiver for an elderly person takes money from the elderly person’s bank account, without consent, for a purpose other than the execution of their responsibilities to the elderly person.
Affirmed.
Notes
Defendant entered guilty pleas to Counts 1 through 9 and Counts 11 through 14; the state dismissed Count 10.
ORS 124.110 provides, in part:
“(1) An action may be brought under ORS 124.100 for financial abuse in the following circumstances:
“(a) When a person wrongfully takes or appropriates money or property of a vulnerable person, without regard to whether the person taking or appropriating the money or property has a fiduciary relationship with the vulnerable person.”
At the time we decided Church, the statute referred to “elderly or incapi-tated” persons, rather than “vulnerable” persons, as it does now. ORS 124.110 (1999), amended by Or Laws 2005, ch 386, § 3. That difference does not affect our analysis.