A former Indianapolis Public Schools teacher accused of filming a student beat up another student during class has been formally charged with neglect of a dependent.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said 23-year-old Julious Johnican did not intervene in a fight between two students at George Washington Carver Montessori IPS #87 in 2023. He’s also accused of filming the incident on his cellphone and encouraging the students to keep fighting in 2023.
A probable cause affidavit says Johnican can be heard in the cell phone video encouraging the students to fight. As one student began hitting the other student in the head, Johnican was heard saying, “That’s right (student’s name), you get him.”
Court documents say Johnican also failed to report the incident to the school or the child’s parents. The parents of the student who had been hit in the head say they did not learn about it until a parent-teacher conference nearly two months after the fight happened.
Once the fight and video were reported, Johnican was placed on administrative leave. He resigned four days later.
A lawsuit was filed against the school in April by the student’s mother. Her attorneys say the child had sensory sensitivities, an executive function disorder, and possible learning disabilities. They also said the child would often complain to his mother about abuse happening to him at the school and often said he did not want to go to class.
In the video, you can hear the attacking child continually say, “don’t mess with me,” while the boy getting hit is crying.
Officers issued a search warrant for Johnican’s phone on May 3, but have not been able to get it.
Johnican’s attorney says he has since moved to East Chicago and hasn’t been able to deliver the phone to investigators.
“Schools should be safe spaces for our children to learn and grow and Mr. Johnican’s alleged conduct jeopardized that. 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,” said Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears.
