A Houston school teacher has been charged with child endangerment after allegedly putting her COVID-19-positive son in the trunk of her car to prevent catching the infection from him while taking him to a test center.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Sarah Beam, a teacher at Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District, stopped at the Pridgeon Stadium drive-thru COVID-testing center located in northwest Harris County on Jan. 3 and informed the school district director of health services, Bevin Gordon, that her child was in the trunk of the car.
When Gordon asked to see the boy, Beam unlatched the trunk, and the 13-year-old was found inside. Gordon informed Beam that she wouldn't carry out the test unless the child was transferred into the vehicle. Surveillance footage shows the child exiting the trunk and sitting in the car.
Gordon informed the police about the incident. After law enforcement arrived, Beam explained that she put her son in the trunk to prevent him from spreading the infection. The police issued an arrest warrant for the 41-year-old teacher for the crime of child endangerment.
The high school teacher was taken into custody at 3 p.m. on Jan. 8 and has since been released after posting a $1,500 bond around 4:45 p.m. the same day. Beam has been working in the school district since 2011. She has now been placed on administrative leave.
Standifer said the boy could have been seriously hurt if there was an accident, since the trunk doesn't provide the passenger safety that seats do, and the child wasn't protected by a seat belt as required by law.
“In the event that the vehicle is in a crash, there’s no way to really secure a person in a trunk,” he said.
“Most of your vehicles are constructed with crumple zones in the front and rear of the vehicle, so if the individual is in the rear of the vehicle and they’re involved in a crash, they’re probably at greater risk of being injured because they’re designed to absorb energy in the front and the rear.”
