'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAUACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABhAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgcQAAIBBAIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEDAgAEBREGEhMhMQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABhEBAAIBBAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIEEQADEkGBobH/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AJDj6hkczaKaq2K0IJdAqJFyRPyAtHb3r5WM5DluUxt/dWUJy6Wz2JjqcgNLkYjQ2aUo1UtWGcxm4COPMR+umV+hUibYbQZ5PfU5RPQa/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On April 26, 2023, five staff at Indiana’s Brownsburg Elementary School are facing criminal charges regarding a lunchroom incident that happened back in February. The police said that these staff members were accused of mistreatment and failing to report the ill-treatment of a seven-year-old special education student, who was forced to eat his own vomit.
Police said that the Brownsburg school district learned about the incident on April 12 and removed the staff members involved from further contact with the students. The district also immediately put them on administrative leave. The Hendricks County Prosecutor’s Office filed the charges against them on Tuesday afternoon.
As it happened, the internet was shocked and outraged at the news. One YouTube user wrote that the teachers had lost their minds.
Jennifer Barrett, the Brownsburg Police Captain, who reviewed a video of the incident, said:
“Anybody who watches the video, it’s going to be a pendulum of emotions. You first see it and you are in disbelief and shock and then you move to anger and outrage and then you go back to disbelief and shock.”
The seven-year-old boy suffers from a cognitive disability that affects his memory. Barrett said that despite being verbal, the boy was unable to tell anyone about the incident back when it happened due to his memory being affected.
Netizens are furious after learning about the Brownsburg elementary school incident
People on the internet were furious to learn that a student was treated this way by school staff members and teachers. Some said to shut the school down as this was unacceptable. One user pointed out that it takes special skills to deal with special education kids, and the staff members involved in the incident should have resigned before hurting the boy.
Charges against the staff members of Brownsburg Elementary explored
In the alleged lunchroom incident that occurred in February, the special ed student enrolled in the Life Skills program at the school stood up during lunchtime and appeared to gag. Sara Seymour, a 27-year-old teacher, allegedly told him that if he threw up, he would have to eat his own vomit.
According to police, another teacher, Julie Taylor, 48, provided a tray for the student to throw up on. After the boy ended up vomiting, a 63-year-old Instructional Aid, Debra Kanipe, allegedly gave the boy a spoon to eat some of his vomit.
Police further added that Kanipe and Seymour remained standing on each side of the student as he was compelled to eat a portion of his vomit. Two other staff members, 38-year-old Instructional Aid, Kristen Mitchell, and 24-year-old behavioral technician, Megan King, stood there witnessing the incident without doing anything to stop the mistreatment of the student.
Later, one of the workers allegedly instructed the little boy to use paper towels to clean up the rest of his vomit.
Police confirmed that the special ed student has returned to school. Jennifer Barrett, the Brownsburg police captain, said that they learned about the incident from another party. An internal process regarding a completely independent issue was going on within the school corporation, and during this process, the lunchroom incident was discovered two weeks ago. The school immediately contacted the police.
Jennifer Barrett added:
“At the end of the day, they failed. They failed our children, they failed that child and they failed all of us.”
Jim Snapp, the Superintendent of BCSC, said in a statement that as educators, protecting the welfare and safety of their students lies at the core of who they are. He said that they were deeply aggrieved by the actions of these five staff members and asserted that they would work in conjunction with their local law enforcement while moving forward with possible criminal charges.
