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Nebraska woman gets probation, jail for memory care patient’s death

Anne Pavlik
Anne Pavlik

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — An Arlington woman has been given 90 days in jail for the death of a memory care patient who was burned after falling asleep near a fireplace.

Court records say Anne Pavlik was sentenced Tuesday in Dodge County Court. The judge also gave Pavlik two years’ probation. She’d pleaded no contest to attempted abuse of a vulnerable adult in the death of 82-year-old Bernard Batten at a Fremont memory care center.

Investigators determined Batten awoke early on Feb. 12 and eventually sat in a chair. Pavlik, who was the only staffer on duty, didn’t notice Batten then pulled his chair near a fireplace fire and fell asleep.

Pavlik later found Batten was badly burned. An autopsy showed he died of natural causes and burns.

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