A former Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) teacher, Julious Johnican, is set to plead guilty to felony neglect for filming fights involving students, including a recorded video capturing a 1st-grade student beating a special needs student.

Background

The case against Johnican stemmed from abuse allegations at George Washington Carver Montessori IPS School, where Johnican worked in the fall of 2023. At the time, allegations against Johnican were laid out in a civil lawsuit filed by the family of a special needs 7-year-old student against Indianapolis Public Schools, the district, and administrators.

Johnican has since been charged with neglect of a dependent for failing to stop a fight that allegedly happened between the students in his classroom. It happened between September 2023 and October 2023.

The mother of the child who was allegedly beaten in class had said that Johnican had previously shown her a video depicting her child being attacked by another student during a parent-teacher conference. The video featured a voice that could be heard encouraging the student to beat up the other. That voice is alleged to have belonged to Johnican.

Court documents detailed several other instances where Johnican failed to protect students in his care from being exposed to violence and, in some other cases, he encouraged his special needs students to fight while under his supervision.

Consequences

Johnican resigned shortly after the allegations became public knowledge. The district had also recommended him for termination at the time.

If the plea deal is accepted by the court, Johnican could face anywhere from six months to two and a half years in prison for his Level 6 felony. The change of plea hearing is scheduled to take place in Marion Superior Court 25 on August 4 at 8:30 a.m.

Original reporting: 93.1 WIBC (Indianapolis) — read the source article.