Two IPS Employees Facing Criminal Misdemeanor Charges For Failure To Report Sexual Abuse

At least six IPS employees, including Supt. Louis Ferebee, learned on February 17 that one of the school's counselors had been accused by a parent of having sex with students, but nobody made a report to the Department of Child Services or law enforcement until a week later on February 23. Now Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry is charging two of those IPS employees with a criminal misdemeanor for not reporting the alleged sexual abuse immediately as required by state law.

The charges against IPS human resources director Lela Hester and human resources case manager Shalon Dabney come after the former school counselor, Shana Taylor, was charged with multiple counts of child exploitation. According to the Indianapolis Star, Dr. Louis Ferebee thanked the prosecutor's office for "its thoroughness and professionalism," obviously quite relieved that he won't be held accountable for the school's failure to report the alleged sexual abuse of students by one of the school district's employees.

The IPS school board has not taken any reported discipline against any of the six employees who knew about the allegations against Taylor but failed to act. The school's principal, Mark Cosand, resigned his position as principal but remains employed by the district. He was out on medical leave at the time of the incident recovering from a stroke but had been alerted about the allegations by the school's assistant principal.