How Could You? Hall of Shame-Sarah Elise Hager UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Emmet, Michigan, foster parent,Sarah Elise Hager, 39, “is currently in jail on charges that she brutally abused her two foster children over a four-year span, including locking them in dog cages.

39-year-old Sarah Elise Hager of Port Huron is accused of abusing the children while they were in her care from 2017 to 2021. The accusations were laid out in an affidavit filed on Feb. 13.[2026]

In it, the children — a boy and a girl, who have not been identified because they are still minors — say they lived with Hager in Emmett, Mich., which is 20 miles west of Port Huron. The kids said they experienced unspeakable horror.

They told authorities that Hager routinely abused them, including beating them and locking them inside of darkened rooms and a dog cage.

The boy told authorities that he once wet the bed, and Hager proceeded to beat him and then rubbed his face in the urine-soaked bed. Hager was taken into custody by the St. Clair County Sheriffs on Feb. 27

She was charged this past Tuesday, March 3, with five felony counts, including two counts each of 1st and 2nd Degree Child abuse and one count of Torture.

Michigan law describes Torture as a crime “with the intent to cause cruel or extreme physical or mental pain and suffering, inflicts great bodily injury or severe mental pain or suffering upon another person within his or her custody or physical control.”

Hager’s prior criminal record featured multiple cases in 2011, including a number of vehicle violations, a guilty plea to a larceny charge, and a domestic violence charge.

Local 4 reached out to Hager’s court-appointed attorney and did not hear back.

Hager has a probable cause hearing preliminary hearing next Tuesday, March 10 and a preliminary hearing one week later on March 17.

If she is convicted on any of the charges, she could face up to life in prison.”

St. Clair County woman charged with torture, child abuse
[Click on Detroit 3/6/26 by Jay Scott Smith]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:“A St. Clair County woman accused of brutally abusing her two foster children over a four-year span, including locking them in dog cases, has pleaded guilty to four charges.

Sarah Elise Hager, 39, of Port Huron, was charged with seven felony counts, including child abuse and torture.”

“According to court records, Hager pleaded guilty on May 18 to two counts of second-degree child abuse, one count of second-degree child abuse in the presence of another child and one count of attempted torture. All other charges were dismissed.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 22 at 1:50 p.m.”

St. Clair County woman accused of abusing foster children, locking them in dog cases, pleads guilty
[Click on Detroit 5/20/26 by Samantha Sayles]