Judge Convicts Mother Who Put Children in Trunk on Road Trip

A Stafford County woman was convicted yesterday of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for making her daughters take turns riding in the trunk of a cramped four-door sedan during a long summer road trip from Alabama to Loudoun County.

Loudoun Circuit Court Judge Thomas D. Horne dismissed a felony charge of cruelty to children against Cheryl Ann Schoonmaker-Brown. But he agreed with prosecutors that Schoonmaker-Brown, 38, endangered her children -- ages 8 and 10 -- when she put them in the trunk and allowed others to ride in the car with improperly fastened seat belts during a more than eight-hour journey July 1.

"If we were in Alabama, I wouldn't hesitate to find the defendant guilty of a felony," Horne said. "I think it's very likely that a child could die from being in a closed trunk on a summer day in Alabama."

But Horne noted that the circumstances had changed by the time Schoonmaker-Brown reached Virginia. When her 10-year-old daughter was in the trunk, a partially collapsed seat back that opened into the trunk provided an airway and an escape for the girl, witnesses said. The judge ruled that Schoonmaker-Brown's actions, therefore, did not meet the standard for the more serious felony charges, which carry a prison term of up to five years.

Schoonmaker-Brown's misdemeanor conviction means she could face as much as a year in jail, a $2,500 fine or both.

Cassandra Esslinger, 12, a friend and one of six people in the car, testified that Schoonmaker-Brown told Cassandra's mother that she would rent a minivan for the five-day trip. But when they arrived at the car rental agency, Schoonmaker-Brown balked at the price and opted for a cheaper Nissan Sentra, Cassandra said. Schoonmaker-Brown told her 12-year-old daughter not to worry when the girl became concerned that anyone riding in the trunk could be hurt.

"She said, 'That's what bumpers are for,' " Cassandra told the judge.

Cassandra said she was seated in the back with Schoonmaker-Brown's 12-year-old and infant daughters while the 10-year-old rode up front and the 8-year-old was in the closed trunk. After the girl begged to be let out of the trunk, her mother waited 30 minutes before complying by stopping at a gas station, Cassandra said.

Schoonmaker-Brown laughed when her 8-year-old daughter began singing what she called the "I'm so hot song," Cassandra said. When the girl emerged from the trunk bathed in sweat, cheeks flushed and stripped down to her underwear, Schoonmaker-Brown turned up the air conditioning, then allowed her 10-year-old to crawl into the trunk crammed with luggage, a laptop and a Boston terrier pup. Later, Schoonmaker-Brown stuffed a case of wine into the trunk along with her daughter after stopping at a winery, Cassandra said.

Schoonmaker-Brown's ex-husband, who has custody of the children, testified that he had warned his ex-wife repeatedly about her failure to use seat belts for the children before he called authorities in July.

Days after his ex-wife was arrested, Curtis Schoonmaker taped a phone conversation with her. On the tape, Schoonmaker-Brown admitted that the girls rode in the trunk but shifted the blame for the incident onto her children, saying they had been acting unruly lately.

"Those girls get me in more trouble," Schoonmaker-Brown said on the tape.

Schoonmaker, a Loudoun home inspector who lives in the Aldie area, said he learned about the incident a day after his ex-wife dropped the children off at his house.

Schoonmaker-Brown's attorney, Eric Strom, successfully argued that his client's actions did not merit the charges originally filed against her. He said the Stafford County airline worker had not acted willfully, adding that prosecutors had not presented proof that the children would have been harmed.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Nicole Wittman tried to convince the judge otherwise.

"There is no justifiable excuse for putting a child in the trunk of a car, especially when you're driving down the freeway," Wittman said.

Prosecutors and Schoonmaker-Brown's ex-husband said they were disappointed with the ruling.

"I think this is pretty light," Schoonmaker said. "It's disturbing, and I think it reinforces the thought to her that this was excusable."