DA: Woman Sentenced for Child Cruelty in Dog-Crate Punishment Case

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One of the two woman who were charged with cruelty to children last year for locking their 6-year-old son in a dog crate as punishment has been sentenced to prison time.

Sarah Elizabeth McClain, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 20 years, with the first 10 years to be served in prison, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office announced.

• This is Discipline? Mom, Girlfriend Locked Son, 6, in Dog Cage, Poured Syrup and Cat Litter on Him

McClain and co-defendant Crystal Jean Hostetter were arrested in April, 2014, for disciplining Hostetter’s special-needs son by locking him in the crate, and pouring syrup and cat litter on him.

“The two defendants proceeded to cover the child in syrup and cat litter despite knowing of the child’s significant psychological issues and aversions to all things sticky,” the DA’s office said in the announcement. “The co-defendants further abused the 6-year-old by physically beating him as he held onto bricks in his outstretched arms.”

The case against Hostetter is active and pending prosecution.

McClain pleaded for leniency from Judge William H. McClain, but he agreed with the sentence recommended by the DA’s office.

“Judge McClain refused to grant First Offender treatment while calling it one of the more inhumane forms of torture the court had seen,” the DA’s office said.

(Photo: Sarah Elizabeth McClain; Douglas County DA Facebook)