Teacher locks son with Covid in car boot
A Texas teacher has been arrested and charged with endangering a child after locking her Covid-positive son in the boot of her car in order to protect herself from exposure to the virus as they drove to a testing site.
Sarah Beam, 41, was arrested after a witness called police and told them they heard someone in the vehicle’s trunk on January 3 at a testing site in Harris County, Texas. Beam reportedly opened the boot to reveal the 13-year-old boy lying inside.
She explained that her son had tested positive for COVID-19 and that she was taking him to a testing site at Pridgeon Stadium for a second test to confirm the result. She reportedly said that she had placed her son in the boot as she did not want to be infected herself.
A health worker told her that no test would be administered until the boy was allowed to sit in the back seat of the car.
Ms Beam has been working as a teacher at Cypress Falls High School since 2011, but is now on administrative leave.
CY-Fair ISD Police Department said in a statement, "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."
Sergeant Richard Standifer, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told reporters that the boy could have been seriously injured if the vehicle had been involved in an accident. He added, "I have never heard of somebody being put in a trunk because they tested positive for anything.”
Image: Silvia Bianchini