Teachers who forced a special needs child to eat feces simply transferred to other schools before finally being arrested.

by Jacquelyn Gray November 25, 2022 at crimeonline.
A Texas teacher and two assistants were arrested for allegedly keeping a 5-year-old special needs student in a locked room last year.
Liberty ISD teacher Melody LaPointe, 47, and teaching assistants Tarah Tinney, 33, and Augusta Costlow, 27, reportedly deprived the boy of food to the point that he ate his own feces and drank his own urine. A Liberty ISD spokesperson told KTRK that Costlow and Tinney were placed on administrative leave following the April 2021 incident, and they resigned at the conclusion of the investigation.
According to the New York Post, the three women did not help the boy after he fell in the isolation room and injured himself.
LaPointe reportedly transferred to another school district following the incident. KTRK reported that she most recently worked for Bonnie P. Hopper Primary School in Goose Creek.
LaPointe was arrested in connection to this case on November 16. Even before her arrest, Lapointe was hired in another school district despite having an investigatory flag on her state teaching certificate, according to KTRK.

Liberty County Sheriff’s Office
Melody LaPointe, 47, and teaching assistants Tarah Tinney, 33, and Augusta Costlow, 27, were charged earlier this week with abandoning or endangering a child over the shocking incident in April 2021.


Liberty County Sheriff’s Office
They are accused of putting the boy into an isolation room within a Liberty Independent School District facility, ABC 13 reported.
While confined to the room, the little boy fell and injured himself — but the staff allegedly did nothing to help him.
He was locked up until he started eating his own feces and drinking his urine.
In the wake of the arrests, the school district said they informed law enforcement and child protective services immediately after being informed of the incident.
“We removed the educators, who continued to work for us, from the classroom, and conducted a comprehensive investigation,” the statement read.
“Based upon our investigation, we reported the educators to the State Board for Educator Certification and shared our results with law enforcement officials.
“Upon completion of the investigation back in 2021, none of the individuals continued in our employment from that time forward. Liberty ISD is continuing to work with the Liberty County District Attorney’s office for the benefit of our children.”
All three women were booked into the Liberty County Jail and their bond has been set at $60,000 each.
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