Texas teachers, staffers charged after special needs students eats his own feces

LIBERTY, Texas - A Texas teacher and two assistants allegedly isolated a 5-year-old special-needs boy for so long that he started eating his own feces after being deprived of food.

Melody LaPointe, 47, and teaching assistants Tarah Tinney, 33, and Augusta Costlow, 27, face charges after a special needs boy was isolated, forcing him to eat his own feces and drink his urine, according to reports. (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 April 2021 incident.

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The trio is accused of putting the boy into an isolation room within a Liberty Independent School District facility.

They allegedly deprived him of food, forcing him to ingest his own feces and urine, authorities said.

Tinney and Costlow have resigned and LaPointe, the main teacher in the classroom, works for another school district, which has placed her on leave as well, the report said.

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Upon learning of the incident, Liberty ISD contacted authorities.

"We immediately reported the matter to law enforcement and CPS (Child Protective Services), removed the educators who continued to work for us from the classroom, and conducted a comprehensive investigation," a district spokesman said.

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