Mom pleads guilty to locking son in trunk during party
Wednesday, November 24, 2004 Posted: 1:35 PM EST (1835 GMT)

SAN DIEGO, California (AP) -- A mother who left her 7-year-old son locked in the trunk of a car while she partied in a bar has pleaded guilty to child abuse and false imprisonment.

Sarah Powell, 27, and her boyfriend, Jake Faria, 30, entered their pleas Monday as part of a plea bargain.

The charges carry maximum prison terms of up to six years, but the couple are likely to be sentenced to probation at a January 5 hearing with credit for time served, according to San Diego Superior Court Judge Browder Willis.

Both were jailed for several weeks after their arrests.

Powell was arrested during her birthday celebration on August 23 at a bar in San Diego's Ocean Beach neighborhood. A witness had alerted police that the boy was in the trunk of Powell's Volvo, which was parked outside.

The boy was found in the trunk with a pillow and a sleeping bag. Police said Powell told them she put the boy in the trunk for safekeeping when she was unable to find a babysitter.

Faria, who is not the boy's father, was arrested a few days later.

Powell's lawyer, Mary Ellen Attridge, said Powell exercised bad judgment, but that she and Faria otherwise have taken good care of the boy. "She has been a very good mother," Attridge said.

The boy is living with a foster family, but Powell is attending parenting and substance-abuse programs and is working to regain custody, Attridge said.




my god. dont give these people custody of their child. one strike and youre out. what the fuck is wrong with people?

Way too much me, me, me, me in some newer generations.

We need to take a page out of China's book man.

I love how the lawyer is telling everyone how "other than this" she's a good mother, like "this" was forgetting a doctor's appointment or something.

More evidence for the case of castrating white trash

Easy there.

Not really a good thing to say.

Funny, what racial slur would you have used if this were a black woman?

Lawyers.

Similar to "he shot them because they were racists".

I wish more energy could be spent on finding out ways of prevention and avoidance of such things.

Bad things will always happen, but some things can be done to minimize the occurance of such things.

This woman is a turd. Take the child away.

If she can get it all figured out later in life, then steps can be taken to reunite them. Until her shit is together, no kids for her!

I've been under the impression that the goal of DCFS is to get the children back with the parent(s). I don't know how I feel about that, but it raises interesting discussions. If the goal of DCFS wasn't to get the kids back, what would they do with all of them?