US mother charged over car boot children

A mother has been charged with child abuse and cruelty after she allegedly forced two of her children to take turns riding in the boot of a car on an eight-hour drive from Alabama to Virginia.

Cheryl Ann Schoonmaker, 38, forced the two girls, aged eight and 10, to take turns in the boot on July 1 because there was not enough room in the car, according to Curtis Schoonmaker, her ex-husband.