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Mother Sentenced To Probation For Allowing Her Son, 12, To Drive

GREENSBURG (KDKA) -- A Westmoreland County woman was back in court Wednesday where she was sentenced for allowing her 12-year-old son to drive her car.

The woman originally told police she wanted her son to be a man, but she had a different story for the judge at her sentencing.

Tamara Madatic will never forget what she saw on the roads around Latrobe in August of last year.

"Half of his car was on the berm and half of his car was on the actual roadway," said Madatic, a witness to last summer's the incident.

Police say the car that Madatic witnessed driving out of control had a 12-year-old behind the wheel. The boy's mother, 33-year-old Carrie Geyer of Seward, told officers who pulled them over that she was letting her son drive to teach him some adult responsibility.

"How could somebody do that to their children?" said Madatic. "For their safety, and not only for their safety, but for the safety of the people on the road."

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Wednesday was Geyer's day in court.

"She pled to one count of endangering the welfare of children," said defense attorney Art McQuillian. "She received a sentence of five years' probation. She'll have to have a mental health evaluation."

According to McQuillian, Geyer's son's driver education had much more to it than just teaching a life lesson.

"Unfortunately, Ms. Geyer's been the subject of some significant domestic abuse," said McQuillian.

"She wanted this 12-year-old to be able to drive himself and the other children out of danger if she was suffering at the hands of the abuser in the future," McQuillian said.

Walking out from her hearing, Geyer wasn't happy to see KDKA cameras outside the courthouse and her new boyfriend attacked and spit on a KDKA photographer as he tried to do his job.

The photographer was not injured. But the man could be facing charges of simple assault.

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