Teachers Force 7-Year-Old Special Needs Student To Eat His Own Vomit

The student who suffered at the hands of Brownsburg Elementary School staff is part of the school’s life skills program and has a cognitive disability that affects his memory, per WTHR. As Brownsburg Police Captain Jennifer Barrett said, “He is verbal but again with memory being affected, he wasn’t able to tell us this happened back in February," the news outlet reported.

Fortunately, the incident was caught on video. The staff members reportedly involved were teacher Sara Seymour, 27; instructional aide Debra Kanipe, 63; teacher Julie Taylor, 48; instructional aide Kristen Mitchell, 38; and behavioral technician Megan King, 24, who works at K1ds Count Therapy, WTHR reported.

The video footage captured shows the student sitting at a cafeteria table eating his lunch and appearing to choke on his food before starting to stand up. Seymour, the life skills teacher, appears to tell him to sit and allegedly told the child that if he threw up he would have to eat it, authorities said, per NBC News.

Taylor, another teacher, reportedly gave the boy a tray. The boy was seen vomiting on the tray when instructional aide Kanipe handed him a spoon and the boy was forced to eat the vomit and clean up the rest, the news outlet reported.

All five adults were charged with misdemeanor failure to report, according to a statement released by Brownsburg police. Additionally, Seymour and Kanipe were charged with felony neglect of a dependent, per NBC News. Jail records show that Seymour and Kanipe were arrested Wednesday but released the same day.

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Many Facebook users commented on the Brownsburg police media release, sharing that all adults involved should lose their teaching licenses and not be allowed to work with children again.

“Gut wrenching and horrific! I agree that some well deserved time in jail, full revoke of teaching license and all accreditations, and heavy fines are warranted," one person commented. "A public apology as well. This ABUSE and NEGLECT has to STOP!”

“OMG!!!! How could any civilized person even think of doing something like that to a child? How barbaric!!" someone else wrote. "The poor child is there to learn and those "teachers and aids" are there to help him. Those who were involved in the mistreatment of the boy should never work with any child again. They should lose their teaching license.”

On April 17, the district released a statement concerning what happened. According to the media release, the Brownsburg Community School Corporation “moved forward with the termination for two staff members after learning of the mistreatment of a life skills student ini their care at lunch.”

The release also stated that two other staff members were being charged for failing to report the incident. The news release noted that the district was “deeply saddened by the actions of these staff members.”

Authorities confirmed that the student has returned to school since the incident occurred, according to WTHR.