Source: Hendricks County Jail / other
BROWNSBURG, Ind. — The attorneys representing the special needs child who was forced to eat his own vomit claim there’s more videos of his abuse.
“Unfortunately, the second video we have is our same client, but him being abused at a different location,” says attorney Catherine Michael talking to WIBC’s Kendall and Casey show Tuesday.
You may remember the special needs child, now a former student of Brown Elementary School, was forced to eat his own vomit while several school staffed watched back on February 16th of 2023. Michael says this new video shows the child being abused within the same school, but a different location than on the original video.
Michael and her partner Tammy Meyer say they know there are three more videos of the child being abused, but Brownsburg School Corporation is doing everything it can to not hand over evidence.
“They haven’t been disclosed to us, they haven’t been provided,” Michael explains, “we had to file a motion to compel last week, attempting to get those.”
Earlier this month, Jim Snapp retired as Brownsburg School Corp’s superintendent, citing issues between Snapp and the board. This was Snapp’s statement at the time: “The decision to retire at this time in my life has been an extremely difficult one – but I am confident this is the right time for me to step down. I thank the Board of Trustees for their support over the last 14 years. It has been the joy of my professional life to lead the school corporation that did so much for me as a student many years ago.”
Catherine Michael says it’s hard to understand what’s happening behind the scenes, but she hopes it means change is coming for the school district, “my hope would be that the Brownsburg School Board is actually taking a hard look at what was going on within the school corporation that many, many parents were unaware of.”
Attorneys Michael & Meyer say they heard about abuse claims for years, but it wasn’t until a school employee came forward about the existence of a video showing their client being abused.
“So, we have had contact from several former and current employees wanting to provide information,” says Tammy Meyer, “again, we had to get an order from our hearing officer to be able to talk to employees.”
The attorneys say if you had or currently have a child within Brownsburg Schools, you are entitled to your child’s records. That’s especially true for parents of special needs children.
Catherine Michael says you should start by requesting your child’s records and seclusion logs, even if the school district refuses to provide them.
Both attorneys say the worst part of this process is that they can only pursue evidence related to their client. If they see abuse of another child on another video, they can’t move on that case unless that parent is made aware.
