Teacher Sara Seymour Made Student With Special Needs Eat His Own Vomit

[Sugar Cookie]

A former Indiana elementary school teacher received her sentence for an incident involving a special needs student being forced to eat his own vomit.

Sara Seymour was sentenced to a year in jail, but she will not spend any additional time behind bars because she is getting credit for time served and the rest of the sentence was suspended to probation.

This sentence stems from an incident in 2023 where a 7-year-old special needs student threw up in the cafeteria.

A fellow school employee said Seymour instructed the child would have to eat the vomit.

All five of the staff members present during the incident were either fired or resigned from the school.

Teacher sentenced for making student with special needs eat his own vomit

This sentence stems from an incident in 2023 where a 7-year-old special needs student threw up in the cafeteria.

www.kktv.com

Footage from a security camera shows the boy appearing to gag on his food, according to the affidavit.

Seymour is then seen telling the boy to sit down as another teacher places a lunch tray in front of the boy as he starts to vomit, the affidavit says.

Once he finishes vomiting, another teacher — identified by police as 63-year-old Deborah Kanipe — is seen handing the boy a spoon and he is “compelled to eat some of his own vomit,” according to the affidavit.

Both Seymour and Kanipe are then seen standing by the boy's side as he then began to spoon the vomit into this mouth, the affidavit says.

The video shows that once he has had a few spoonfuls, the boy is instructed to clean up the rest of the vomit with paper towels.

Police said in a release announcing her arrest that prior to this incident, "Seymour is said to have allegedly advised the victim that if he vomited, he would be required to eat what he threw up,"

The school did not learn about the incident until a month after it occurred because none of the teachers present filed a report, police said.

All five teachers involved eventually resigned or were terminated from the school, said police, including two who witnessed the incident and failed to report it and the teacher who handed the boy a tray that day.

Seymour and Kanipe were terminated by the school within days of officials learning about the video.

Kanipe, 63, is facing the same two charges as Seymour but is preparing to take her case to trial, which is scheduled for June.

Teacher Forced 7-Year-Old Boy with Special Needs to Eat His Own Vomit: Why Wasn't She Sentenced to Prison?

Sara Seymour entered a guilty plea earlier this month as part of a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to a year in prison, but she will not have to serve any time.

people.com

 

[Cider]

Just seeing this makes me sick.

Who qualifies these muppets? I had similar abuse from Autism Initiatives in Edinburgh. Nothing that involved spew. More like abuse from idiotic undergraduates.

 

[cubby]

How could so many people think this was alright to do? There is no way I'd have let this happen, I would be gagging with him and taking him out of the room, while I called the police.

 

[thuumpr]

How could so many people think this was alright to do? There is no way I'd have let this happen, I would be gagging with him and taking him out of the room, while I called the police.

Would've been okay if the teachers each grabbed a spoon and chowed down... Not the kiddo!

 

[Freyja]

I say one of them should have shoved that teacher's face in it the moment she suggested it!

 

[BuffettGirl]

Bunch of power tripping assholes. Lemme break this down for them. The special needs kid is more than likely incapable of vomiting on a whim to irritate them. They punished and humiliated a child for getting sick because it made them feel powerful. They need to be culled from the human herd. STAT!

 

[DamagedGoods]

Why the fuck would you punish a kid for being sick? You can't just NOT be sick by sheer willpower alone, Fucking cunts.

 

[Aedia]

It's the fact that there were multiple adults present! Just one would be disgusting, but five?! I am just astonished that not a single one didn't step up.
That poor child will distrust adults, with good reason, for many years to come. This is lawsuit worthy. There is a systematic issue here. They should have to pay for that kids therapy - being humiliated by multiple adults, while others watched by, in front of the entire school definitely would be traumatic. Not to mention the special needs aspect. My goodness!

 

[HijabiGirl]

Let's say the kid vomited out of spite, how would their response be appropriate for any reason?! I don't get what they thought this would "show" the kid? I wish someone would've smashed the adults' face into the tray.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

April 22, 2025

A former Brownsburg elementary school teacher was sentenced for her role in a 2023 incident at a Brownsburg elementary school in which she told a student with special needs to eat his own vomit.

Sara Seymour, of Avon, pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the charge of failure to make a report.

On April 21, a Hendricks County judge sentenced Seymour to 365 days in jail. However, 363 days of her sentence was suspended, and she is getting credit for two days previously served — meaning Seymour is spending no additional time in jail.

Seymour was a four-year special needs/life skills teacher at Brown Elementary School.

In October 2024, Julie Taylor pleaded guilty for failure to make a report. A Hendricks County judge sentenced Taylor to 90 days of probation, avoiding jail time.

Meghan King, of Indianapolis, accepted a plea deal in pleading guilty for failure to make a report. A Hendricks County judge sentenced King to 180 days of probation, avoiding jail time.

Former Brownsburg teacher sentenced in incident involving special education student eating own vomit

The incident happened Feb. 16, 2023, at Brown Elementary School.

www.wthr.com

A former Brownsburg elementary school instructional aide was sentenced for her role in a 2023 incident at a Brownsburg elementary school in which she told a student with special needs to eat his own vomit.

Debra Kanipe, of Brownsburg, pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the charge of failure to make a report.

On May 6, a Hendricks County judge sentenced Kanipe to 365 days in jail. However, 363 days of her sentence was suspended, and she is getting credit for two days previously served — meaning Kanipe is spending no additional time in jail.

Former Brownsburg instructional aide sentenced in incident involving special education student eating own vomit

The incident happened Feb. 16, 2023, at Brown Elementary School.

www.wthr.com

 

[cubby]

I really and truly hope they were stripped of their teaching credentials in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, that they can't just simply change states and start this kinda stuff all over again.

The ridiculous sentence they got was bullshit.