A son appeared in court yesterday charged with assaulting his elderly father in one of the first cases to be brought under the Senior Abuse Register Act.The 32-year-old man denied unlawfully assaulting the senior citizen and causing bodily harm on April 1, when he appeared at Magistrates’ Court.Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner told the defendant he was charged under section three of the Senior Abuse Register Act 2008.That means if convicted, his name would be placed on the Senior Abuse Register and he would face a maximum fine of $10,000, a maximum three-year jail term or both.The man also pleaded not guilty to unlawfully damaging a pair of prescription glasses worth more than $60 and belonging to his father on April 1 in Southampton.He told Mr Warner he wished to be dealt with in Magistrates’ Court, rather than Supreme Court. The matter was adjourned until August 16 and he was bailed in the amount of $5,000 with one surety.The Senior Abuse Register Act prohibits publication of information that could identify a senior involved in a case of abuse, as well as any of their relatives.John Payne, acting manager of the National Office for Seniors and the Physically Challenged, told The Royal Gazette in April that only one person had so far been prosecuted under the elder abuse law and the case was thrown out due to insufficient evidence.