Teacher accused of locking son in trunk at COVID testing site to avoid infection
HOUSTON, Texas (WKRC/KTRK/CNN Newsource) - A Houston teacher is facing a felony charge for allegedly putting her son in the trunk of her car.
She reportedly told workers at a drive-through COVID-19 testing site she thought he might have been infected, and having him ride in the trunk was an effort to avoid exposure.
Sarah Beam, a 10th grade English teacher, is wanted for felony child endangerment.
Charging documents show that, on Monday, Beam took her 13-year-old son to a coronavirus testing site unrestrained in the trunk of her car.
"That's sick. That's terrible. You don't put anybody in a trunk," said one parent, Scott Weaver.
Beam apparently told the district's health director at the site that she was trying to keep herself from being exposed to the virus.
That person said they had the child taken out of the trunk and called 911.
"I don't sympathize with that at all," said another parent, Claud Green. "I would have all my children right in the front of my car. If I got it, I got it. If I didn't, I didn't. My kids come first."
Many people called Beam's actions bizarre, especially considering the fact that her career centers around children.
"She's a teacher. I'd rip her license from her in five minutes," Weaver said. "That's not caring for children."
The school district says she's been employed there since 2011, most recently at Cypress Falls High School.
Beam is currently on leave from her job and wanted by deputies who left her Jersey Village home Friday night without making an arrest.
The teenager was not injured in the incident.
