A Houston mother allegedly put her 13-year-old son in the trunk of her car to isolate him after he tested positive for COVID-19, then took him to a drive-thru testing site.
According to KPRC, charges have been filed against Sarah Beam for endangering a child on Wednesday. Court documents were not public until Friday.
The outlet reported that Beam allegedly put her son in the trunk after discovering he had COVID.
“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,” said the Cypress-Fairbanks school district. “Thankfully, the child was not harmed”.
KTLA reported that Cypress-Fairbanks Director of Health Services Bevin Gordon found the boy while she was gathering information from each car.
Gordon asked Beam to open the trunk where the boy was laying down. She told Beam that she and her son would not be tested until he was removed from the trunk and seated in the back seat.
A court document said “(The mother) stated that she put (her son) inside the trunk to prevent her from getting exposed to possible COVID while driving (him) to the stadium for additional testing”.
The testing site was at the same school district where Beam works. She has reportedly been placed on administrative leave.
Authorities on Friday said Beam had not yet been arrested or turned herself in.