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Send Jury Considers Fate Of Ex-Beatrice Center Worker

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Jury Considers Fate Of Ex-Beatrice Center Worker

The case against a man accused of abusing developmentally disabled residents of a state-run center has gone to the jury.

Posted: 5:38 AM Jul 12, 2012
Reporter: Associated Press

The case against a man accused of abusing developmentally disabled residents of a state-run center has gone to the jury.

The jury deliberated for about four hours on Wednesday, stopping around 9 p.m. Members are expected to resume deliberating at 9 a.m. Thursday.

They're considering the fate of 31-year-old Matthew Pangborn, who is charged with beating and choking residents when he worked at the Beatrice State Developmental Center last summer.

Sixteen employees were suspended last year after an investigation found that at least seven of the center's developmentally disabled residents were routinely slapped, shoved, violently pinched, punched, ridiculed and choked. Five workers were initially charged with abuse. Pangborn is the only one to face trial, after the four others pleaded to reduced charges.