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08th Jan 2022

Mother ‘put her son in car boot after he tested positive’ to avoid getting infected

Charlie Herbert

She’s been charged with endangering a child

A teacher in the US has been arrested for allegedly locking her son in her car boot after he tested positive for Covid-19.

Sarah Beam decided to put her 13-year-old son in the boot so that she didn’t catch the virus as she drove to a testing site in Texas.

Beam said her 13-year-old son had tested positive for Covid-19 and she was taking him to the Pridgeon Stadium location for another test to confirm the result, according to local media.

A witness called police after hearing someone in the car boot at the site in Harris County. Beam then opened the boot to reveal her son inside.

She reportedly said she had placed the teenager in the car boot because she did not want to be infected herself.

A health worker then told her that there would be no coronavirus test until she allowed the boy to sit in the back seat of the car, ABC affiliate KTRK-TV reports.

The child was not harmed.

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The mother 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: “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.”

Sgt Richard Standifer, of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told local TV station KHOU 11 that the boy could have been seriously hurt if the vehicle had ended up in a collision.

“I have never heard of somebody being put in a trunk because they tested positive for anything,” said Sgt Standifer.