A 91-year-old Northfield woman bravely fought off an attacker who she actually knew as her neighbor. A man stole a wallet from an 82-year-old woman at a Toms River ShopRite. As bad as these crimes are, what makes them worse is that they're committed against people who are at more of a disadvantage to fight back.

A thief sees an elderly person as less of a threat because of his or her inability to fight back, (the aforementioned 91-year-old woman notwithstanding). But what if the law brought more of a threat?

I think crimes committed against New Jersey's elderly should carry a stiffer sentence for that very reason. You can make the cutoff age 65. Persons convicted of a crime against a senior citizen should carry either mandatory jail time or if the crime already results in jail time, an additional five years should be added to the sentence, depending on the incident.

I'm also hoping with any kind of luck, the prisoners will treat the offenders as though they committed the crime against their own sainted mother. Taking for granted of course, that they thought that highly of their own parents.

Steve Trevelise is on the air from Monday-Thursday, 7 to 11 p.m. Tweet him @realstevetrev or @nj1015.

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