An Indiana second-grade teacher is facing legal action for allegedly promoting and filming a “disturbing fight club-style discipline” in his classroom, a case that has sparked a criminal probe. The accusations came to light last autumn when a 7-year-old boy returned home from George Washington Carver School No. 87 in Indianapolis, visibly upset and recounting instances of abuse, bullying, and harassment in his classroom, as per the lawsuit filed in Marion County, Indiana.
The lawsuit claims that the boy was assaulted by his classmates while their teacher filmed at least one of the incidents on his cellphone, seemingly encouraging the violence. The boy’s mother alleges that her concerns were dismissed by both the teacher and school officials when she raised her son’s complaints. She discovered the assaults only after inadvertently viewing a video of one such incident on the teacher’s cellphone during a parent-teacher meeting, according to court documents.
Catherine Michael, the family’s attorney, told Law&Crime that the mother is devastated by the situation. In response to the allegations, Indiana Public Schools spokesperson Marc Ransford stated that the district does not condone such behavior and takes potential abuse and neglect allegations seriously. He added that upon learning of the teacher’s conduct, the Department of Child Services (DCS) was immediately notified, and the teacher was suspended and removed from the classroom. The teacher is no longer employed by the district.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office has referred the case to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department for investigation. The lawsuit names several defendants, including Indiana Public Schools, Superintendent Aleesia Johnson, Principal Mary Kapcoe, Vice Principal Finae Rent, behavioral consultant Anthony Bigby, substitute teacher Pardeep Dahliwal, and teacher Julious Johnican.
The lawsuit accuses Johnican of instigating at least three beatings and various forms of physical harm and bullying over a three-month period, either for his amusement or as a twisted form of discipline. Court documents reveal that the boy, identified as O.D., was thrown to the ground, struck, slapped, and repeatedly hit in the head in at least three assaults.
The lawsuit further alleges that another teacher in the classroom told O.D. that special needs students were “demonically possessed,” and staff told him he was “bad,” “needed to be baptized,” and that “holy water needed to be poured on him” to rid him of his evil. When the mother raised her concerns with the teacher, he dismissed them as behavioral issues and suggested the boy was lying or mentally ill to avoid school.
The lawsuit also alleges that the mother was repeatedly told by the school that her son was disruptive and lying, and that his behavior was a sign of a disordered personality related to his ADHD. The shocking revelation came during a parent-teacher conference in November when Johnican inadvertently showed the parents a video of their son being attacked. The video allegedly shows the boy on the floor crying as he’s repeatedly punched in the face and head by a peer, with Johnican encouraging the assault.
The mother reported the video to the school secretary on Nov. 1, 2023, and insisted that the police be called. She also contacted the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS), which initiated an investigation. The DCS investigation revealed that the behavioral consultant, a mandatory reporter, failed to report the abuse to DCS or school administration, despite O.D. reporting the abuse to him.