Washington ( CNN ) -- Grimacing with emotion , entertainment legend Mickey Rooney implored a Senate committee on Wednesday to stop what experts call chronic emotional , physical , sexual and financial abuse of elderly Americans by family members and other caregivers . The 90-year-old Rooney told the Senate Special Committee on Aging that he was abused by a family member who took control of his life , and described feeling `` scared , disappointed , yes , and angry . '' `` You ca n't believe that it 's happening to you , '' Rooney said . `` You feel overwhelmed . '' Rooney has filed a restraining order against his stepson and stepdaughter , claiming both emotional and financial abuse . The committee 's hearing brought attention to what experts call chronic elder abuse in America . Rooney said Congress should pass a law to make it a specific crime . `` I 'm asking you to stop this elderly abuse . I mean to stop it . Now . Not tomorrow , not next month , but now , '' he shouted from the witness table . Pass legislation and send it to be signed into law by President Barack Obama , he urged , so that the nation can say `` it 's a crime and we will not allow it in the United States of America . '' Following the hearing , committee Chairman Sen. Herb Kohl , D-Wisconsin , introduced legislation that would create an Office of Elder Justice within the Department of Justice to help coordinate law enforcement response to elder abuse . According to a report by the Government Accountability Office , more than 14 % of noninstitutionalized older adults experienced some form of elder abuse in 2009 . The report cautions that number may be lower than the reality because many instances of elder abuse are underreported . `` For years I suffered silently . I did n't want to tell anybody . I could n't muster the courage and you have to have courage , '' Rooney said Wednesday . `` I needed help and I knew I needed it . Even when I tried to speak up , I was told to shut up and be quiet . '' The GAO report found that many Adult Protective Service programs at the state level have growing case loads and dwindling resources . The elder population of the United States is expected to grow by 60 % over the next 25 years . Other witnesses detailed the depth of the problem . `` I tell the physicians I train that if they 've seen 15 or 20 older people in their practices ... then they have probably met an elder abuse victim , whether they realize it or not , '' said Dr. Mark Lachs , director of geriatrics at the New York Presbyterian Health System . Based on a new study of elder abuse in New York state , `` it would appear that for every elder abuse victim that makes it into an official service or reporting system , another 23 to 24 go undetected , '' Lachs said . Marie-Therese Connolly , director of the group Life Long Justice , told of a man charged by prosecutors in Seattle with murdering his mother . `` His crime ? Letting her rot to death with eight huge pressure sores , several to the bone , while he played internet poker and lived off her pension , '' Connolly said . `` His excuse ? She did n't want to go to a nursing home or a doctor ; he was just respecting her wishes . '' According to Connolly , the woman was `` imprisoned in her bed by immobility , dementia and isolation . '' `` She moaned and cried out for help continuously in the weeks before her death , '' Connolly said . `` Neighbors closed their windows and her son put in earplugs to muffle her cries . No one called Adult Protective Services or 911 . It 's hard to believe the response would have been the same had the cries come from a child , a younger woman or a dog . '' The witnesses noted that victims of elder abuse put a greater strain on support services by requiring more medical care , housing assistance and other help . Rooney summed up the challenge when he spoke of the personal difficulty that victims of elder abuse face . `` You 're afraid , but you 're also thinking about your other family members , '' he said , noting concern about potential criticism from `` your family , your friends , people who know them . '' `` They might not want to accept the dysfunction , '' Rooney said , adding that `` one should love their families as I do . I love my family . '' The diminutive Rooney has been a film star for decades , starting with his role in Andy Hardy films in the 1930s . CNN 's Sally Holland contributed to this story .
NEW : Rooney says he `` suffered silently '' for years . 90-year-old entertainment legend gives emotional testimony . The committee is examining the chronic problem of elder abuse . Witnesses tell heartbreaking stories of abuse of senior citizens .