A former Indiana elementary school teacher who forced a special needs student to ingest his own vomit reached a plea deal earlier this week that will keep her out of prison — and out of the classroom.
Sara Seymour, a former life skills teacher at Brown Elementary School in Brownsville, Indiana, was sentenced after she pleaded guilty to one count of neglect of a dependent, a misdemeanor. In exchange for her plea, the court dismissed an additional charge of failure to make a report.
Seymour’s case attracted national attention, and widespread revulsion.
“She gave him a spoon & everything,” wrote one social media user.
In February 2023, Seymour had told the 7-year-old victim he would have to eat whatever he threw up. The neurodivergent child indeed vomited, at which point Debra Kanipe, a teacher’s aide, provided the child with a spoon.
“Monsters are real,” commented one X account holder.
“Only a year? Sick POS,” opined another.
“The parents should sue her. That’s just disgusting. She should never be allowed to teach,” wrote a third.
She won’t be. Part of her plea deal requires Seymour to surrender her teaching license to the Indiana Department of Education. The state doesn’t want her to work in any “direct-service position” with anyone under the age of 18.
The state also recommended that she remain at home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. A no-contact with the victim order remained in effect.
The incident was reportedly captured on video, per WXIN-TV, which noted that three other staff members were involved or witnessed the incident. None of those individuals chose to report what happened to administrators, WXIN reported.
According to court documents, Seymour was sentenced to 365 days in jail, with the bulk of the sentence (363 days) suspended to probation. She was given credit for time served.
The school didn’t find out about the forced vomit eating until late April 2023. At around the same time the Hendricks County Prosecutor’s Office filed criminal charges against five people, including Seymour and Kanipe.
A month later, officials announced the district had fired Seymour, Kanipe and another person. A fourth staffer resigned. The contractor was not employed by BCSC and could not resign or be fired by the district.
Seymour’s plea deal means four of the five cases are now resolved.
In the three other cases, the individuals avoided jail time after pleading guilty to failure to make a report. Kanipe is slated to go to trial in June.
“This horrendous action is not in line with the character of staff and teachers at Brownsburg Schools,” the Brownsburg Community School Corporation said in a statement following the incident. “The shocking actions of a few does not define the care and concern that Brownsburg teachers and staff show every day.”
