What happened to Sage Blair? Appomattox County High School lawsuit controversy explored

The parents of Virginia teen Sage Blair have filed a lawsuit against Appomattox County High School for failing to notify the parents that their child identified as a male and was relentlessly bullied after choosing male pronouns and names.

The lawsuit alleged that Sage Blair, who was 14 at the time of the incident, was viciously bullied by students after they began identifying as a male just one day into the school year on August 11, 2021. The parents accused the school of deliberately concealing their child’s gender identity, resulting in the teen, traumatized by the bullying, running away from home and enduring six months of a nightmare where the child was s*x trafficked twice.

The parents alleged that the school’s negligence led to the state, who rescued the teen from abusers the first time, retaining custody as they accused the adoptive parents of misgendering their child. Sage was then housed at a juvenile center for boys, where the teen was assaulted. The teenager fled the facility and again fell victim to paedophiles who abducted and r*ped Sage multiple times before they were rescued by authorities.

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Sage Blair was abducted and r*ped by a s*x offender claiming to be 16 online

The adoptive parents of Sage Blair have filed a lawsuit against Appomattox County High School, for concealing the teen’s gender identity from them until it was too late. The lawsuit alleged that Sage Blair was 14 when they began using male pronouns at the beginning of the school year and started going by the name ‘Draco” at school.

The parents alleged that the school did not alert them, despite the child seeking out counselors after being bullied in a bus where boys threatened to r*pe Sage.

The lawsuit alleged that the school staff failed to notify the parents that the school was counseling Sage through gender identity issues and encouraging the teen to use the male bathroom, where the 14-year-old was again subjected to repeated threats of r*pe.

That lawsuit claimed that it was only when the bullying escalated to physical threats that the school alerted the teen's adoptive mother on August 25, 2021. The same day Sage Blair’s mom, Michelle, reportedly found a school hall pass with the name “Draco '' prompting the teen to open up about their fears over the bullying and stating that they would not have used the male bathroom if the counselor had not asked them to do so.

The lawsuit stated that the same night the teen “suffered a psychotic breakdown and decided to run away,” to meet someone they thought was a 16-year-old boy who liked skateboarding. The teen's mother told the New York Post, that the teen left a note behind in the room that read:

“You’ve done your job, Jesus loves you, I’m afraid of what is to come if I stay. Be on your guard. There are bad people around here,” she said, signing the missive with “All my love.”

However, the 16-year-old boy turned out to be a 36-year-old s*x offender, Kenneth Fisher, who had been grooming Sage online and took the teen to Washington and then to Baltimore. Fisher reportedly r*ped Sage multiple times and trafficked the teenager to several men. A week after running away from home, Sage was found in Baltimore with Kenneth Fisher.

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Sage Blair was sent to a juvenile facility for boys after the court declined to turn over custody to the parents

Shortly after Sage Blair was found, the teen's mother Michelle drove all night to pick them up but was denied custody after attorneys accused the family of misgendering the teen. The lawsuit alleged Maryland juvenile court maintained that the teen’s home was abusive and turned the custody over to the state, which housed Sage at a juvenile facility for boys, where they were again "s*xually assaulted, exposed to drugs, and denied medical and mental health care.”

Sage fled the institution in November 2021 and ended up in the streets where the teen was again r*ped and trafficked until they were rescued by law enforcement in Texas and returned to the adoptive mother in January 2022. Lawyer for Blair, Mary McAlister, told The Post:

“All of this could have been prevented if Sage’s parents had been fully apprised of her mental state and given the opportunity to provide the necessary mental health counseling when she first began questioning her identity. Instead, both the school district and public defender’s office decided they knew better than the parents. As a result of their arrogance, Sage was victimized multiple times over.”

The lawsuit alleged that Sage has been diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, for which the teen will need to receive therapy for the rest of their life.