Texas police have arrested and charged a mother after her 13-year-old son was found in her trunk at a COVID-19 testing site.

The woman who is a teacher in Houston, Texas, was charged with a felony after her 13-year-old son was discovered in the trunk of her car at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site on January 3, according to prosecutors.

Harris County court records showed Sarah Beam, 41, was charged on Wednesday with endangering a child.

A television station reported that when Beam pulled into the drive-thru testing site at a stadium in northwest Harris County a witness heard something in the trunk. The witness said when Beam unlatched the trunk, the boy was found lying face-down inside.
Police were called to the testing site for the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District after Bevin Gordon, director of health services for the district, discovered the child was in the trunk, according to the criminal complaint.

According to Gordon, Beam told her she put the boy in the trunk because he had tested positive for COVID-19 previously and she wanted to isolate him from him on the way to the testing site, where she planned on having him tested again.

Gordon later called the police and when she requested to see the child, Beam unlatched the trunk and the boy was inside lying down, the complaint said. Gordon then told Beam she would not administer COVID-19 testing until the boy was moved to the back seat of the car.

Court records did not list an attorney for Beam.

Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District confirmed to KTRK that Beam most recently worked as a teacher at Cypress Falls High School and has been employed by the district since 2011. She is now on administrative leave.