Last year, a Texas teacher and her two helpers confined a five-year-old pupil in an isolation room for so long that he began eating his own excrement as a form of punishment.
Texas teacher Melody LaPointe, 47, was put on leave after the incident pending an internal investigation. She was able to find work as a teacher at a nearby district before her and her former assistants arrests last week
Melody LaPointe, 47, Tarah Tinney, 33, and Augusta Costlow, 27, were arrested earlier this month in connection with the incident, which occurred in April 2021 at an unidentified school in the Liberty Independent School District.
They face four charges each of abandoning or endangering a child after placing the student in isolation for hours without meals.
A criminal complaint states that the child with special needs eventually grew so malnourished that he began eating his own excrement and drinking his pee.
Melody LaPointe, 47, Tarah Tinney, 33, and Augusta Costlow, 27, were arrested this month n relation to a punishment they dished out to a student last year, in which they locked the five-year-old in an isolation room for so long that he began to eat his own feces
In addition, while confined in the room, the child fell and wounded himself, but the three staff members allegedly did nothing to assist him.
According to a representative for the school system, Tinney and Costlow were placed on administrative leave last year following an internal inquiry.
Officials said that they resigned following the conclusion of this inquiry.
LaPointe, the primary teacher in the classroom, also quit, but was able to find employment at Hopper Primary in Houston, a neighbouring school district. She was detained on school grounds in full view of her kids and coworkers on November 17.
The incident transpired at an unnamed school in the Liberty Independent School District in April of last year. It is not yet clear which of its nine schools where the incident transpired. Pictured is the district’s office in Liberty Texas
After the event, 47-year-old Texas educator Melody LaPointe was placed on leave awaiting an internal inquiry. Before her and her former assistant’s arrests last week, she was able to obtain job as a teacher in a neighbouring district.
Melody LaPointe, 47, Tarah Tinney, 33, and Augusta Costlow, 27, were arrested this month in connection with a punishment meted out to a pupil last year in which he was held in an isolation chamber for so long that he began eating his own excrement.
The following email was sent to Hopper Primary parents shortly after kids went home for the day.
Officials of the Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District noted, “In an effort for complete openness, we want to advise our families of an event that occurred yesterday during dismissal.”
Yesterday, a teacher at Bonnie P. Hopper Elementary School was arrested by Liberty County constables.
LaPointe, the main teacher in the classroom, was arrested November 17 at Hopper Primary in Houston, where she had worked for the past few months. She was arrested on school grounds, in full view of her students and coworkers. Parents have since complained that she was hired
In the message, employees stated that the event that led to the instructor’s arrest “happened in Liberty County and is in no way related to Goose Creek CISD.”
The instructor is presently on administrative leave with pay pending the conclusion of a police investigation, according to school officials.
It has been discovered that the assistants were dismissed from their positions in 2021, along with their boss, who would eventually find employment a few miles away.
In the aftermath of last week’s arrests, Liberty Independent School Administration administrators released their own statement stating this fact and reiterating that the three were placed on unpaid leave as soon as the district became aware of the occurrence.
In April of last year, the event occurred at an unknown school in the Liberty Independent School District. It is unclear which of its nine schools the incident occurred at. The district office is seen in Liberty, Texas.
The advisory, released on the same day as Liberty’s, stated: ‘We withdrew the instructors from the classroom and performed a thorough investigation.’
The letter does not identify which of the nine schools the event occurred in 2021.
It did show, however, that the district reported each employee to the State Board of Educator Certification and shared the information with police enforcement.
Immediate police investigation led to the arrests of the three suspects over a half-year later.
The three disgruntled employees are now suspected of placing the youngster in an isolation chamber within an unidentified Liberty Independent School District building; each of them faces up to four years in prison if convicted.
In the meanwhile, parents are asking answers as to why LaPointe was recruited despite being under investigation.
LaPointe was detained on November 17 at Hopper Primary School in Houston, Texas, where she has worked for the preceding few months. In full view of her kids and coworkers, she was arrested on school grounds. Since then, parents have complained that she was employed.
Amanda Henry, whose 6-year-old daughter attends Hopper Primary, stated, “I am terrified to take her to school.”
You’re meant to put children there for protection, but they hired a woman on whom they evidently did not conduct a thorough background check; she harmed a youngster and left him trapped in a room, forced to eat his own excrement and drink his own pee.
She continued, “It’s unsettling.”
Each of the three ladies was booked into the Liberty County Jail. Each of their bonds is valued at $60,000. A trial date has yet to be determined.
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