No jail for woman who let disabled man sleep on fire ant mound

WACO, Texas (AP) - A judge has ordered a 10-year probation term for a Robinson woman who let a mentally disabled man she was caring for sleep on a fire-ant mound.

Sixty-five-year-old Carole Laura Jacobs also must do 400 hours of community service.

The Waco Tribune-Herald reports the 71-year-old man was using a walker June 9 when he fell in the woman's back yard.  Defense attorney Thomas West says Jacobs could not get the man to stand, so she gave him a blanket and they spent the night outdoors.

Police say Jacobs apparently did not realize the diabetic man was being bitten by fire ants, plus his blood sugar level slipped.

Police say Jacobs, who worked for a company that does elderly care, did not call her employer for help until about 15 hours after the man fell.

Jacobs in October pleaded guilty to injury to a disabled person.

She no longer works with the disabled.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)