BROWNSBURG, Ind. — A former Brownsburg elementary school teacher was sentenced to 90 days of probation for her role in a 2023 incident at a Brownsburg elementary student in which another teacher allegedly told a student to eat his own vomit.
Julie Taylor, of North Salem, Indiana, pleaded guilty for failure to make a report. A Hendricks County judge sentenced Taylor to 90 days of probation, avoiding jail time.
The incident
On the afternoon of Feb. 16, 2023, in the cafeteria of Brown Elementary, 63-year-old Debra Kanipe, an instructional aide, noticed a 7-year-old student had food in his mouth and looked like he was going to vomit.
According to court documents, Kanipe asked 27-year-old teacher Sara Seymour to get a napkin.
That's when Seymour allegedly told Kanipe, "If Victim 1 (the student) throws up, that Victim 1 (student) was going to eat it."
A detective asked Kanipe if Seymour was frustrated at the child. Kanipe replied, "Sara Seymour was more trying to prove a point with Victim 1."
Kanipe said she's worked in special needs/life skills for 27 years.
Seymour was a four-year special needs/life skills teacher at Brown Elementary School. She allegedly told a detective their policy is that they "encourage the child to keep eating." Seymour also "advised if a child spits out food and it still looks like formed food, she would encourage them to still eat it, but not vomit."
Police said another teacher, 48-year-old Julie Taylor, provided a tray for the boy to throw up on. The child later threw up on the tray.
As Kanipe and Seymour stood over the child, Kanipe reportedly handed the child a spoon, and he began "eating his own vomit all while crying and looking at both Kanipe and Sara Seymour."
Police said Seymour and Kanipe stood on each side of the boy as he ate a portion of his vomit, while 38-year-old Kristen Mitchell, an instructional aide, and 24-year-old Meghan King, a behavioral technician at K1ds Count Therapy, watched the incident and did nothing about it.
Mitchell said Seymour "was laughing about what happened later in the day."
Mitchell, who had been at the school since 2021, confronted Seymour, but allegedly never reported the incident to DCS.
When detectives asked why Seymour appeared to be smiling during the incident, most notably "while watching Victim 1 spoon vomit into his mouth," Seymour said it was her "behavioral response when nervous."
Aftermath for those involved
The Brownsburg school board voted to cut ties with employees accused in the incident.
Initially, Brownsburg Schools put five staff members on leave. Two staff members (teacher Sara Seymour and instructional aide Debra Kanipe) were facing termination.
Then, Brownsburg police charged five people in connection to the incident, four of whom were Brownsburg Schools staff members and one of whom was an outside contractor.
Seymour and Kanipe, who both face felony charges of neglect of a dependent and failure to make a report, were fired. Brownsburg Schools said another instructional aide was fired. Two teachers who were facing termination resigned from their positions.
Seymour has a pretrial conference scheduled for Jan. 7, 2025, with a jury trial scheduled to begin Feb. 26, 2025.
Kanipe has a pretrial conference scheduled for Nov. 12, with a jury trial scheduled to begin Feb. 26, 2025.
Brownsburg Schools confirmed the fifth staff member, who was placed on leave and was not charged by police, submitted her resignation, which became official at the June board meeting.
The family of the student hired attorney Catherine Michael to seek justice for their 7-year-old, who Michael said is challenged by autism, memory issues and communication issues.