INDIANAPOLIS — Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced a formal charge against a former Indianapolis Public Schools teacher following an attack between elementary students that he allegedly encouraged and recorded on his cellphone.
Prosecutors charged Julious Johnican, 23, with neglect of a dependent for failing to stop a fight that happened between students in his classroom at George Washington Carver Montessori IPS School 87.
“Schools should be safe spaces for our children to learn and grow, and Mr. Johnican’s alleged conduct jeopardized that,” Mears said. “As parents, we place trust in our teachers and the adults in power to keep our children safe, and there should be serious consequences when they fail to meet that standard and engage in or encourage dangerous behavior.”
Johnican was taken into custody May 31, and he had his initial court hearing June 4, which lasted less than 10 minutes.
"I don't think, from the impression I got today, that he understands the gravity. He should by now, but I don't think he does," said Tammy Meyer, one of the attorneys representing the family of the boy who was attacked.
Johnican's next court appearance is a pretrial hearing on Tuesday, July 23 at 8:30 a.m.
New details in court documents
A paralegal for IPS told IMPD that Johnican was hired during the COVID-19 pandemic and was not a fully-certified teacher.
According to court documents, the paralegal claims the boy attacked in the video "has a long history of behavior issues, which included hitting other children and knocking things off their desk."
The paralegal claims Johnican recorded the incident in order to show the boy's parents what he was doing to other kids — except the boy was attacked and not doing the attacking.
The family's attorneys, Catherine Michael and Meyer, disagree.
"The detective talked with a paralegal who is not involved with this child or their family whatsoever. Why in the world would you talk to a paralegal instead of the principal who has been removed, the vice principal, the teacher? Get to the real evidence," Meyer said.
According to court documents, detectives also spoke with the boy who was attacked in the video. He claims there were multiple incidents in which Johnican encouraged other kids to hit him.
"The fact that charges have finally been filed is a huge relief to this family, but when we look at the probable cause affidavit, you can see that teachers aren't being interviewed, child witnesses aren't being interviewed, other families aren't being interviewed. That's what needs to happen to get a full picture of what was happening in this classroom," Michael said.
Right now, one of their biggest questions is where the cellphone video is.
Detectives applied for a search warrant for Johnican's cellphone.
Johnican's attorney told detectives he has still not had time to meet with Johnican to get possession of the cellphone or determine if Johnican would be issuing a statement on the allegations.
But the attorneys representing the family said this should have happened nine months ago.
"I'm wondering if we are ever going to see that phone or not?" Meyer said.
"The concerning thing about not having the cellphone is how many incidents he may have recorded. We know there were multiple attacks our client was a victim of," Michael said.
Michael and Meyer are hoping the next steps will be discussing real solutions.
"Right now, we are talking about child abuse from teachers onto students in the schools. We stop that by higher levels of supervision. We stop that by ensuring the people in the classrooms are highly trained. We stop that by better background checks," Michael said.
Incident that led to lawsuit
Attorneys for the 7-year-old boy's mother filed a lawsuit against Indianapolis Public Schools, as well as some of its staff members, after the second-grader was allegedly attacked.
The complaint lists IPS, Superintendent Dr. Aleesia Johnson, the principal, the vice principal, a behavioral consultant, a substitute teacher and Johnican.
(NOTE: 13News is not naming the people who aren't publicly identified through the district since formal criminal charges have not been filed by prosecutors.)
According to the complaint, the student has disabilities, including "sensory sensitivities, an executive function disorder and probable learning disabilities."
The complaint says the boy regularly came home sad and upset after school, telling his mother that he was abused, bullied and harassed during class.
According to the complaint, Johnican orchestrated what the plaintiffs described as a "fight club-type of discipline in his classroom over the span of three months, in which the teacher allegedly encouraged, instigated and on at least one occasion, recorded on his phone physical abuse by other students.
The recorded incident came to light during a parent-teacher conference on Nov. 1. Parents were meeting with Johnican, regarding the boy's mother's concerns as to what was happening at the school.
During the parent-teacher conference, Johnican was allegedly going to show a video of the classroom environment to the parents. However, instead of showing that video, he inadvertently began showing a different video, in which the 7-year-old boy was being attacked by another student.
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The complaint says the boy's mother tried to grab Johnican's phone, which allegedly caused him to inadvertently turn up the volume where the parents could hear that it was Johnican instigating the attack and supposedly encouraging the other student to continually hit the boy.
"'Are you done yet?' That's the teacher saying that to these children as he's beating up on this little boy. 'Are you done yet?' It's shocking," Meyer said.
In the video, you can hear the attacking child continually say, "don't mess with me," while the boy getting hit is crying.
(NOTE: 13News is not sharing the full video of the attack, which was sent by the boy's and his mother's lawyers. In the report, 13News has also decided to remove the audio of the boy being attacked due to the disturbing nature of the incident.)
Toward the end of the video, the 7-year-old boy who was attacked can be heard saying through his cries, "I didn't mess with him," before Johnican is heard telling the boys to "go back to your spot."
The complaint refers to two other instances in which the teacher allegedly held the boy down while allowing other students to punch, hit and kick him.
"It appears that this was being used as a disciplinary technique in his classroom. Instead of beating a child senselessly himself, at least according to what we have, he was allowing another child to do it," Michael said.
The boy's mother said she reported the alleged abuse to multiple staff members at the school prior to filing the lawsuit.
The complaint says the boy's mother met with the teacher on multiple occasions to discuss the child's allegations, which the teacher reportedly dismissed as behavioral issues and indicated that the boy was lying and/or mentally ill.
An IPS spokesperson confirmed Johnican resigned before the district could fire him.
Responses following the lawsuit
Since the lawsuit was filed, Johnson shared a video-recorded response that was addressed to students, staff and families.
"It has been an incredibly tough time for our community the last few days," Johnson said in her update April 24. She described the now-viral video as "appalling and disturbing."
Johnson shared an update about what IPS is doing since the incident:
- Bringing on an external partner to gather information regarding this specific incident and school climate at George Washington Carver through stakeholder interviews with parents, students and staff
- Completing a thorough review of the district's relevant policies, protocols and procedures
- Engaging in an external review of those same relevant protocols and policies to ensure the district has all necessary systems in place.
The mother of the 7-year-old boy is thanking the community for its support, with her attorneys releasing a statement on her behalf.
The mother said she is "seizing this crucial moment to call for substantial reforms throughout Indiana’s school systems to enhance student safety for her child and others."
And on May 10, IPS announced the district is beginning the search for a new principal and vice principal at George Washington Carver IPS School 87 for the 2024-2025 school year. District administrator-at-large Heather Haskett has been serving as interim principal over the last few weeks.
Haskett will continue as the administrator on special assignment until new leadership has been secured.
Additionally, the email listed changes the school has implemented or is planning to implement following a town hall with parents:
- Reviewed mandatory reporting requirements with staff at the May 1 staff meeting.
- Increased the number of staff who are transitioning with each class to ensure student safety and visibility in the hallways.
- Adjusted protocol of teachers greeting students in the mornings while also watching the students in their classrooms. This increases visibility of students to ensure safety in hallways.
- Modified communication protocols for teachers regarding notifying administration when there is a level 3 or 4 Code of Conduct infraction so corrective actions can be determined and implemented immediately.
- Increased behavioral support for classroom teachers by school administrators.
- Implemented social emotional support for staff with the introduction and use of “Mind, Body, Medicine Strategies” facilitated by the district’s Equitable Supports Team.
- Increased presence of staff during lunch times in the cafeteria.
- Implemented morning walks of the building by administration after daily announcements.
- Implemented administration presence in hallways to greet students during arrival.
- Implemented administration presence at dismissal for Car Rider duty.
- Identified additional staff at Car Rider duty during dismissal to increase efficiency and safety.
- Implemented an open-door policy for administration to receive feedback from staff or families.
- Increased communication with families regarding upcoming events.
Child abuse and neglect resources
If you think a child is being abused or neglected, call the DCS Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 1-800-800-5556.
If you can, provide DCS with the following information:
- Who was involved
- What occurred
- When and where it occurred
- The extent of any injuries sustained
- Any other relevant information
Even if you don't know all that information, DCS urges you to call and report if you suspect a child is a victim of abuse or neglect. State law requires DCS to protect the identity of those reporting abuse or neglect allegations, so you can remain anonymous.
There is more information available at the Indiana Department of Child Services website.
If you would like to help victims of child abuse and neglect, Kids' Voice of Indiana has a Court-Appointed Special Advocate program. This lets volunteers advocate for child victims who don't have another trusted adult to stand up for them. You can learn more about the CASA program here. Kids' Voice estimates more than 3,100 kids in Marion County need help from a CASA volunteer.