A former Liberty ISD teacher and two instructional assistants have been arrested for allegedly isolating a student with no food until they were forced to eat their own feces and drink their urine.

Melody LaPointe, 47, of Baytown; Tarah Tinney, 33, of Liberty; and Augusta Costlow, 27, of Liberty, have been charged with four counts of abandoning or endangering a child. As per court documents, the incident took place at Liberty Independent School District, Texas, in 2021, when the workers placed a pupil in isolation and deprived them of food until they started eating their feces, The Mirror reported.

The School staff members allegedly locked up a child with no food until they started to eat their own faeces.

The teacher and school assistants had placed a pupil in isolation and deprived them of food until they started eating their faeces and urine, according to court documents.

A school spokesperson said the two teaching assistants were placed on administrative leave whilst police investigated the allegations.

The staff members resigned once the investigation was completed.

However, LaPointe had recently been working as a teacher for Bonnie P. Hopper Primary School in Houston, Texas – despite being under investigation.

The primary school sent parents an email on November 17 informing them the teacher had been arrested.

It said: “In an effort of full transparency, we want to inform our families of an incident that occurred yesterday during dismissal.

“A teacher at Bonnie P. Hopper Primary School was arrested yesterday by Liberty County constables.

“The cause for arrest occurred in Liberty County and is not affiliated with Goose Creek CISD in any way.

“The teacher is currently placed on administrative leave with pay, pending the outcome of an investigation, after which the District will take appropriate disciplinary action.

“The teacher is currently placed on administrative leave with pay, pending the outcome of an investigation, after which the District will take appropriate disciplinary action.

“As this is a pending legal matter, Goose Creek CISD will allow the legal process to proceed and refrain from further comment.

“We want to ensure our families that the safety and security of your children is our 1 concern. We thank you for your continuous support of our campus and our district.”

The email led to furious parents questioning why their children were allowed to be taught by LaPointe given an investigation into her conduct at her former school was taking place.

Amanda Henry, who has a six-year-old daughter at the school, told ABC 13 : “I am scared to send my daughter to school.

“You are supposed to send them there to be protected, and they hire this lady who apparently they did not do an extensive background check on and hurt a child, left this child locked up in a room, having to eat his own faeces and drink his own urine. It’s disturbing.”

The school tried to reassure parents but failed to address why she was allowed to teach whilst under investigation.

A spokesperson for Goose Creek said: “We immediately reported the matter to law enforcement and CPS, removed the educators who continued to work for us from the classroom, and conducted a comprehensive investigation.

“Based upon our investigation, we reported the educators to the State Board for Educator Certification and shared our results with law enforcement officials.”

According to LaPointe’s education certificate, she had an investigatory flag on her file, the Texas Education Agency said.