A grand jury has indicted former Indianapolis Public Schools special education teacher Hunter Sesemann, 28, on nine criminal counts in Marion Superior Court tied to the alleged physical abuse of students with disabilities at an elementary school on the city's near east side. Court documents describe a teacher accused of tripping and dragging a boy down a hallway, among other incidents involving nonverbal children who struggled to communicate what happened to them.
According to WIBC 93.1 FM, Sesemann faces three counts of battery, three counts of battery on a person younger than 14, and three counts of battery against a disabled person — a nine-count breakdown confirming that three separate victims are named in the indictment, as reported by WTHR. Court documents reviewed by the station indicate the alleged abuse occurred in a “rude, insolent, or angry manner” between September 26 and October 6, 2025, at Washington Irving Neighborhood School 14.
Attorneys representing three affected families say the victims were nonverbal students who suffered physical abuse and neglect in Sesemann's classroom. Attorney Tammy Meyer said parents trust educators to protect their children, especially when those children may have difficulty communicating abuse, adding that allegations of violated parental trust demand serious scrutiny.
A Near East Side School Serving Young, Vulnerable Students
Washington Irving Neighborhood School 14 sits at 1250 E. Market St. and serves 230 students from Pre-K through 5th grade, according to state education data from Indiana GPS. Under Indiana Code 35-42-2-1, battery is elevated from a misdemeanor to a Level 6 felony when committed by an adult against a child under 14 or against a person with a mental or physical disability, per legal documentation published by Kaushal Law LLC. That statutory framework explains why battery allegations against nonverbal, disabled elementary students carry felony weight rather than misdemeanor charges.
The case did not begin with a grand jury indictment. Allegations against Sesemann first surfaced publicly in January 2026, after the family of an abused kindergartner announced plans to sue IPS following a reported physical and verbal assault in the classroom, the station's report notes. What started as one family's complaint has since grown into a multi-victim criminal case spanning more than a year.
District Notification Questioned as Civil Cases Take Shape
Attorneys Tammy Meyer and Catherine Michael served a formal tort claim notice to Indianapolis Public Schools on behalf of affected families in December 2025, well before Sesemann's indictment, laying groundwork for civil lawsuits now being prepared against both Sesemann and the district. The attorneys say IPS failed to notify parents when the abuse was initially reported to child welfare authorities — a claim central to civil lawsuits the families are preparing but have not yet filed.
Part of a Wider Pattern of IPS Classroom Cases
Sesemann's indictment is not the only recent felony case involving an IPS classroom. Hoodline reported in August that former IPS teacher Julious Johnican was expected to plead guilty at a hearing that day under a proposed plea agreement on felony neglect charges after being accused of encouraging and filming fights between students in his classroom. Together, the cases have renewed scrutiny of how the district monitors classroom conduct and responds to complaints involving vulnerable students.
The district has also been navigating other changes this year, including the IPS Board of Commissioners' unanimous vote in August to eliminate its six-year-old no-zero grading policy, returning grading discretion to teachers. In March, the board approved transferring the former Raymond Brandes School 65 building to Dynamic Minds Academy, a charter school serving students on the autism spectrum — part of a broader shift in how Marion County handles specialized education options for students with disabilities. Civil lawsuits against Sesemann and IPS are being prepared and have not yet been filed.
