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Stafford County woman was sentenced to six months in jail on Aug. 14 for making two of her daughters ride in the trunk of her car during a trip last summer from Alabama to Loudoun County.


Loudoun County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Horne found Cheryl Ann Schoonmaker-Brown, 39, guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which includes abuse and neglect, on April 26. Horne sentenced Schoonmaker-Brown to a year in jail with all but six months suspended.

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"The mere fact that you would let this go on is irresponsible," Horne told Brown before imposing the sentence. "That's the best way I can classify it.

During a more than eight- hour trip from Alabama to Aldie on July 1, 2005, Schoonmaker-Brown rotated two of her daughters in and out of the trunk because there was not enough space in the vehicle. Five children were in the car; they ranged in age from an infant to a 12-year-old. Four of the children were Schoonmaker-Brown's, and the fifth was a friend of one of her daughters.

Schoonmaker-Brown was dropping the children off at the Aldie house of their father and her ex-husband, Curtis Schoonmaker.

The father called the police after his daughters told him about the incident. He has full custody of his three daughters, and Schoonmaker-Brown has temporary visitation rights.

In this week's hearing, Horne also ordered Schoonmaker-Brown to take a parenting course and receive any necessary individual counseling. Horne granted a work release for her during her six months in jail.

The conviction was lower than the Class Six felonies of abuse and neglect of children, and cruelty and injuries to children with which she had been charged on July 8, 2005.

During the sentencing hearing, Schoonmaker-Brown's attorney, Eric Strom, described his client's actions as nothing more than a series of poor judgments that should not be criminalized with jail time.

He said his client did not have the money to rent a mini-van for the drive, so she had to rent a smaller, four-door car, which limited the space for the four preteens and infant. According to Strom, Schoonmaker-Brown did not have the heart to tell her daughter there was no room for the friend, so she rotated two of her daughters between the trunk and the inside of the car.

"From time to time, adults lose control of the situation and themselves," Strom said.

According to Sheriff's spokesman Kraig Troxell and court testimony, Schoonmaker-Brown attempted to make the child riding in the trunk more comfortable by folding down a back seat between the trunk and the interior of the car after she realized how hot it was in the trunk. When the seat was folded down, a child had to sit on top of the folded seat, limiting the amount of light and air passing through to the trunk.

Strom spoke of how Schoonmaker-Brown is participating in parenting classes and trying to better herself, and Schoonmaker-Brown echoed those comments.

"I have had remorse," she said. "I sat down with [my daughters], and I personally apologized to all three of them for what I did."

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Alejandra Hammack asked Horne to impose jail time, partly because Schoonmaker-Brown is currently facing charges in Stafford County for leaving her children alone in June.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Strom and Schoonmaker-Brown said they expect to appeal the decision. She is free on $10,000 bond pending appeal.