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Ohio nursing aide gets 10.5 years in patient abuse

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The Associated Press Updated 8:15 PM Monday, January 9, 2012

CLEVELAND — A nursing assistant was sentenced Monday to more than 10 years in prison for abusing a 78-year-old Alzheimer's patient whose son recorded the mistreatment on a video camera hidden in an air purifier.

Virgen Caraballo, 45, of Cleveland, was sentenced to 10 ½ years on her guilty plea to seven felony counts of patient abuse, the state attorney general's office said.

The video taken in April and May by Esther Piskor's son showed Caraballo roughly transferring Piskor to a wheelchair and tossing her on a bed, the state attorney general's office said. Authorities say the video also showed Caraballo pushing the patient's face into her bed while washing her.

"The way this woman was treated by those assigned to care for her was unbelievable," Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a statement. "Families cannot tolerate such care and neither will we."

The Ohio attorney general's office conducted the investigation with help from the Cleveland police, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office and the state health department.

Last month, a second nursing assistant pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and faces up to six months in jail. Maria Karban, 26, of Cleveland, is to be sentenced later this month.

The two were charged with abusing the woman at a MetroHealth Medical Center facility. MetroHealth has fired the women and two other employees.

Caraballo's attorney did not immediately return calls Monday.

Caraballo also is required to give up her nursing aid license and cannot work in a facility that is a Medicaid provider.

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January 10, 2012 01:09 AM EST

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