Five special education staff in Indiana elementary school were charged with neglect or failure to report neglect after they forced a 7-year-old student in a life skills program to eat and clean up his vomit, police said.
Five Special Education In Indiana Elementary Schools Will Face Felony Charges
The Hendrick County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against 4 Indiana elementary school workers and 1 Kids Count Therapy, LLC, a third-party independent contractor.
According to the Brownsburg Police Department investigation, a video showed that on April 20, five employees were involved in the mistreatment of a 7-year-old male Brown Elementary School student who is in the Life Skills program, which they forced him to eat his vomit in the lunchroom with a spoon as others watched.
Fox News reported that Brown Elementary Life Skills Teacher 27 years old Sara Seymour, and an Instructional Aide, Debra Kanipe, 63 years old, are both facing charges of neglect with a dependent as a Level 6 felony and failure to report a Class B misdemeanor.
The other Elementary Life Skills Teacher, Julie Taylor, 48, Instructional aide Kristen Mitchell, 38, and Kids Count Registered Behavioral Technician Megan King, 24, were each charged with failure to report a misdemeanor.
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Incident of Crime
The incident occurred in February and was only reported on April 10, according to a statement claimed by the Brownsburg Police. The footage showed that the 7-year-old victim was sitting at a lunch table while eating his lunch, then he suddenly choked on his food and started to vomit.
A probable cause affidavit released by the police noted that Seymour allegedly ordered the victim to eat his own vomit if he threw up. However, the video shows that the child proceeded to vomit in a tray provided to him by a staff member, according to the release.
After Kanipe then provided the child with a spoon and was compelled to eat some of his vomit, the release stated. Moreover, they even required the child to clean his own vomit with paper towels, police said.
US Today reported that Seymour and Kanipe were no longer allowed to get along with students and were placed on administrative leave along with the three other staff members in the Indiana Elementary School. On Wednesday, the termination process for Seymour and Kanipe was initiated, and both are currently booked in the Hendricks County Jail, claimed by Brownsburg Police Department Captain Jennifer Barrett.
The other employee involved those with charges of failing to report revealed the incident, leading to an investigation.
