A Texas mom has been charged with child endangerment after locking her child in the trunk of her car after he tested positive for COVID.
The Cypress-Fairbanks Police Department has charged 41 year old Sarah Beam with endangering a child after she was found driving around with her 13 year old son locked in the trunk of her car. The teenager had apparently tested positive for COVID.
Beam, a high school teacher, reportedly pulled into a drive thru COVID testing site in Harris County, Texas on Monday, Jan. 3, when an employee at the testing site heard a sound coming from the trunk of her vehicle.
The mom then explained to the employee that her son had tested positive for COVID, and she had put him in the trunk of her car to keep him quarantined so he wouldn’t infect her while she was driving.
According to court documents, the employee then told Beam that she would not administer a COVID test until the boy was removed from the trunk and placed in the back seat of her car. The employee then called the police.
Beam allegedly told the police the same story she told the employee: that her son had tested positive for COVID, and she had placed him in the trunk to protect herself.
She also claimed that she was taking him to the site for additional testing.
Until this incident, Beam had been employed as a teacher at Cypress Falls High School since 2011. She has been placed on administrative leave.
Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District released the following statement regarding the incident:
“CFPD was alerted that a child was in the trunk of a car at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site earlier this week. Law enforcement conducted a full investigation, resulting in a warrant for arrest. Thankfully, the child was not harmed.”
Police reportedly went to Beam’s home to arrest her on the evening of January 7th, but left empty handed. The constable’s office has so far declined to say why deputies left the home without taking anyone into custody.
