Texas arrests school staffers who locked up boy until he started eating his own excrement

A Texas teacher and two assistants have been arrested and charged after they locked up a 5-year-old special needs boy for so long he began to eat his own feces and drink his own urine, the New York Post reports.

Melody LaPointe, 47, and teaching assistants Tarah Tinney, 33, and Augusta Costlow, 27, were charged earlier this week with abandoning or endangering a child. The incident, where they took the boy into an isolation room, took place in 2021.

The boy also fell and injured himself while in the room, but the staff reportedly did nothing to help him.

“We removed the educators, who continued to work for us, from the classroom, and conducted a comprehensive investigation,” the Liberty Independent School District said in a statement.

“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.”