BlackSheep
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A Stafford County VA woman has been sentenced to 6 months in jail for keeping her children in the trunk of a rental car during a drive from Alabama to Virginia.
Cheryl Ann Schoonmaker-Brown, 39, was convicted in April of endangering the lives of two of her daughters after she put them in the trunk of a cramped 4-door Nissan Sentra during last summer's trip, which lasted more than eight hours.
At Monday's sentencing hearing, Loudoun Circuit Court Judge Thomas Horne said putting the girls in the trunk was nothing short of "criminal." He ordered Schoonmaker-Brown to serve 1 year in jail on the misdemeanor charge, with all but six months suspended.
Schoonmaker-Brown expressed regret before she was sentenced and said her parenting skills have improved since enrolling in a parenting class.
According to court testimony in April, Schoonmaker-Brown balked at the price to rent a mini van for the trip and opted for a Nissan Sentra.
With six people in the car for the trip from Alabama to Loudoun County, Schoonmaker-Brown required her 8-year-old and 10-year-old daughters to take turns in the trunk during the drive, according to one of the children's friends who was in the car.
At one point, when her 10-year-old child was in the trunk, which was already crammed with luggage and a Boston terrier pup, Schoonmaker-Brown stuffed a case of wine into the trunk after stopping at a winery, the 12-year-old testified.
The children told their father what happened the next day, and he called police. He later taped a phone conversation with his ex-wife. On the tape, Schoonmaker-Brown shifted the blame to the children.
I had heard she took the pup out of the trunk because she felt sorry for it!
I'm surprised she got 6 months.
If I'm not mistaken she was busted in WalMart's parking lot in Central Park, VA.
Cheryl Ann Schoonmaker-Brown, 39, was convicted in April of endangering the lives of two of her daughters after she put them in the trunk of a cramped 4-door Nissan Sentra during last summer's trip, which lasted more than eight hours.
At Monday's sentencing hearing, Loudoun Circuit Court Judge Thomas Horne said putting the girls in the trunk was nothing short of "criminal." He ordered Schoonmaker-Brown to serve 1 year in jail on the misdemeanor charge, with all but six months suspended.
Schoonmaker-Brown expressed regret before she was sentenced and said her parenting skills have improved since enrolling in a parenting class.
According to court testimony in April, Schoonmaker-Brown balked at the price to rent a mini van for the trip and opted for a Nissan Sentra.
With six people in the car for the trip from Alabama to Loudoun County, Schoonmaker-Brown required her 8-year-old and 10-year-old daughters to take turns in the trunk during the drive, according to one of the children's friends who was in the car.
At one point, when her 10-year-old child was in the trunk, which was already crammed with luggage and a Boston terrier pup, Schoonmaker-Brown stuffed a case of wine into the trunk after stopping at a winery, the 12-year-old testified.
The children told their father what happened the next day, and he called police. He later taped a phone conversation with his ex-wife. On the tape, Schoonmaker-Brown shifted the blame to the children.
I had heard she took the pup out of the trunk because she felt sorry for it!
I'm surprised she got 6 months.
If I'm not mistaken she was busted in WalMart's parking lot in Central Park, VA.
