PARAGOULD, Ark. (KAIT) - A judge sentenced a Paragould woman to prison after she pleaded guilty to permitting child abuse.

On Dec. 2, Second Judicial Circuit Court Judge Pam Honeycutt ordered Autumn B. Bateman to serve 36 months in the Arkansas Department of Corrections with 211 days of jail time credit and 36 months of suspended imposition of sentence.

As part of her plea agreement, Bateman is to pay all court costs and fines in $50 monthly installments.

The judge also ordered her to have no contact with the victim.

Paragould police arrested Bateman and Adrian M. Driver in May of 2025 after a two-year-old baby in their care underwent emergency surgery following what doctors called a “repeated pattern” of physical abuse.

According to the court documents, the Department of Child and Fa

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