Update: Sarah Session found guilty on nine counts in mistreatment of stepson; parents also found guilty of role
(Update: Adding more details from courtroom, statement by family friend)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A Deschutes County judge found a Sunriver-area woman guilty Thursday on nine counts of assault, criminal mistreatment and coercion involving her 9-year-old stepson, while her parents were convicted on charges, including tampering with evidence.
Circuit Judge Alison Emerson set a 3 p.m. April 3 sentencing date for Sarah Marie Session, 34, and parents Gary Hardenburg, 66, and Paula Hardenburg, 61 after hearing dozens of witnesses during a three-week trial, including the boy at the center of the case. Disturbing videos taken of the boy in a room covered with tarps also were shown in court.
Prosecutors said the boy was kept isolated, beaten with a curtain rod, given extreme, life-threatening levels of salt, had food withheld and was forced to eat his own vomit.
Session initially was also charged with second-degree attempted murder, assault and criminal mistreatment of her stepson. In January, Emerson dismissed the attempted murder charge and a first-degree assault charge, citing insufficient evidence to sustain prosecution.
Session faced two counts of assault in the second degree, five counts of assault in the third degree, eight counts of criminal mistreatment in the first degree, and two counts of coercion. The woman and her parents had waived their right to a jury trial in the case.
The judge, frequently citing case law, acquitted Session of six other charges, including four counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment and two counts of third-degree assault.
The three family members were arrested at two locations in Coos Bay in February of 2025 after arrest warrants were issued.
Paula Hardenburg was convicted of all six charges, including second-degree assault, a Class B felony, while her husband was convicted on all three counts he faced, the most serious first-degree criminal mistreatment, a Class C felony. Both were found guilty of tampering with evidence, a Class A misdemeanor.
Emerson cited "substantial evidence" that Paula Hardenburg was present in the boy's room when it was covered by tarps, on the day the boy was taken to the hospital and when he was tied to a chair unconscious.
Session and her parents had been on conditional release, but Emerson ordered the mother and daughter taken into immediate custody and they were led by sheriff's deputies out of the courtroom and to jail after the judge rendered her verdicts.
The most serious conviction, a second-degree assault charge, is a Class B felony and a Measure 11 offense, carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a a mandatory minimum sentence of about 6-8 years.
Long-time family friend Jason Reynolds, among many in court during the trial and for the verdict, gave KTVZ News a statement after the verdict was read:
"Now that the verdict has been reached, I hope the DA's office also will look further into the role that (the boy's father) Chris Session played in this situation," he said.
"It was determined in court that he abandoned his son Braxton for 18 months prior to Braxton's health crisis, as well as admitting to lying on the witness stand," Reynolds added.
Previous Reporting:
Therapist Testifies in Sarah Session Trial, Session Accused of Mistreatment of Stepson
