INDIANAPOLIS — Disturbing cellphone video, allegedly filmed by an IPS teacher, shows a child attacking another classmate.
In a lawsuit filed by the family, they claim the teacher also orchestrated what they call a "fight club"-type of discipline in his classroom.
"We have a lot of great teachers, but we also have some teachers who are absolutely horrible and who have done horrible things," said Karly Sciortino-Poulter, director of The Arc in Indianapolis.
The alleged abuse happened over the course of three months.
And even though the 7-year-old told his mother about the attacks, the lawsuit states he was met with disbelief.
"There is a reluctance to believe that anybody would hurt someone with a disability, but there is also a reluctance to believe what they say, 'Oh no, you must be mistaken. Oh, no, you misunderstood.' Well, no, when someone punches you, that's pretty self-explanatory," Sciortino-Poulter said.
The mother claims in the lawsuit that she met with the principal and vice principal of IPS School 87 on several different occasions.
They allegedly blamed her child, saying he was "lying" and that it was "related to his ADHD."
She also claims she met with the boy's teacher on several different occasions who allegedly claimed her son was lying and mentally ill.
And it was at one of those parent-teacher conferences where the boy's teacher allegedly slipped up and showed her the video of her son on the ground getting punched in the face.
"Who was looking into it? Who was trying to keep an eye on it? When mom went to the school to say, 'Hey, I'm seeing certain things. My kid doesn't want to go to school. I'm seeing bruises. What's going on here? He's telling me he's getting hurt at school.' Who actually looked into it?" Sciortino-Poulter asked.
That's a question 13News reporter Chase Houle looked into and found a memorandum of agreement between IMPD and the IPS Police Department from 2017.
One of the lines states that IMPD shall have primary responsibility for investigating incidents that pose a serious and immediate threat of injury to an individual.
Now, it's still unclear whether or not any form of law enforcement was contacted about the alleged abuse beyond DCS the day the video emerged.
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An IMPD spokesperson said Friday that no one from IMPD was called to school that day.
When contacted Friday, the IPS Police Department responded with the same statement the school district sent on Wednesday:
"IPS does not tolerate the type of behavior alleged in the complaint and takes reports of potential abuse and neglect seriously. When IPS learned of the teacher’s conduct, the Department of Child Services (DCS) was immediately notified, and the teacher was removed from the classroom and suspended. The teacher had no further contact with students and is no longer employed by IPS.
- IPS was not aware of any fights encouraged or sanctioned by this or any other teacher from the student’s parents or otherwise, until the parent emailed the principal at 6:58 p.m. Oct. 30.
- The principal first viewed this email early morning the next day (Oct 31), and immediately contacted DCS and IPS Human Resources.
- The teacher was immediately removed from the building and never returned to the classroom.
- The teacher was interviewed by Human Resources on November 2 as part of its investigation into the matter. The employee resigned during that meeting before IPS could initiate termination proceedings, which the district was prepared to do based on the information received from the internal investigation.
Because this matter is the subject of pending litigation, it is inappropriate to comment further on our investigation of this matter."