An Indianapolis teacher filmed and encouraged a classroom fight involving a 7-year-old with disabilities, and now he’s facing serious consequences

Julious Johnican, a 25-year-old former teacher in Indianapolis, was sentenced to two years in prison for encouraging and filming fights among his students. The sentence sits just under the maximum of 2 1/2 years for the neglect of a dependent charge, which is a level 6 felony in Indiana.

As reported by the NY Post, the unsettling situation came to light during a parent-teacher conference in the fall of 2023. Johnican was meeting with the parents of a 7-year-old student who has special needs. He reportedly attempted to show the parents a video he believed would reassure them regarding the classroom environment. Instead, he played a video of their son being punched repeatedly by another student.

The video footage captured the other child shouting, “Don’t mess with me,” while striking the boy. Johnican can be heard on the recording saying, “That’s right. You get to him,” and “I know you want to get him when he does things.”

The mother also filed a lawsuit 

The child had previously told his mother that he was being “attacked, bullied, threatened and injured in the classroom” between August and November 2023. He explicitly stated that the abuse was “being done at the instruction of the teacher.”

This behavior led to a lawsuit from the mother of the victim, which resulted in a $1.2 million payout. Johnican resigned from his position at the Montessori school before the administration could fire him. He eventually pleaded guilty to the felony charge.

Prosecutor Ryan Mears spoke on the sentencing, noting that it “holds [Johnican] accountable.” He added, “Schools are supposed to be safe spaces where children can learn, grow, and feel protected. The defendant abused the trust placed in him as an educator and subjected vulnerable children to the unthinkable.”

The attorney for the victim’s family expressed doubt that the gravity of the situation has actually sunk in for Johnican. She mentioned, “I don’t think, from the impression I got today, that he understands the gravity [of his crimes]. He should by now, but I don’t think he does.” The lawsuit filed by the family had described the events as a “reprehensible ‘Fight Club’ type of discipline within his classroom.”