Catherine Michael, JD - Attorney and Child Advocate

08/20/2026

08/20/2026

The school to prison pipeline is not a myth.
“Children who are starting from behind need to be taught ‘explicitly up front’.
Without extra help to build up things like vocabulary, grammar and comprehension, these children risk falling further behind and some will end up in the so-called ‘school-to-prison pipeline’.”
- Professor Pamela Snow
You can read more about the links between literacy and incarceration and the school-to-prison pipeline here:
👉 https://governorsfoundation.org/gelf-articles/early-literacy-connection-to-incarceration/
Here: 👉 https://journal.imse.com/your-students-key-to-success-literacy/
Here:👉 http://pamelasnow.blogspot.com/2019/01/twenty-years-of-working-both-ends-off.html
And this La Trobe University article here:👉 https://www.latrobe.edu.au/nest/poor-reading-writing-feeds-school-prison-pipeline/

The quote in the image comes from the amazing Kareem J Weaver taken from Left Behind Documentary
schooltoprisonpipeline untileveryonecanread

08/19/2026

Grateful to assist this family.

A Hamilton County family alleges that a local Catholic grade school...

07/28/2026

07/28/2026

A trio of lawyers representing Doe expressed outrage toward the organization for what allegedly transpired.

07/13/2026

For more than 25 years, I have had the privilege, and the responsibility, of standing beside survivors of child s*xual abuse from schools, daycare centers, and institutions that their families had trusted. During that time, I have handled hundreds of abuse cases, and I am currently representing many more individuals and families who are seeking justice after institutions failed to protect the children entrusted to their care. I am licensed to practice law in four states and before the United States Supreme Court. Those credentials have allowed me to represent clients across multiple jurisdictions, but what matters most to me has never been where I practice, it is how I serve the people who place their trust in me.

I am so grateful to see that at long last the U.S. Department of Education's has finally adopted a new national initiative to address s*xual predators in our K-12 schools. The Department has made it clear that schools receiving federal funding cannot ignore allegations of abuse, cannot conduct superficial investigations, and cannot continue the deeply troubling practice known as "passing the trash" allowing employees accused of s*xually abusing children to quietly move to another school or district without meaningful accountability. This is happening my friends, in schools throughout Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Texas and many other states.

This new federal initiative is an important step forward, but laws and policies are only meaningful when they are enforced. Schools and instititions must put children's safety ahead of institutional self-protection. Administrators must act when allegations arise. And communities must refuse to accept silence as an acceptable response.

For more about our firm visit www.connellmichaellaw.com or message us on facebook. Connell Michael, LLP

For more about this initiative visit the link below:

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) today launched a national K-12 initiative to crack down on s*xual predators in schools.

07/01/2026

Were you at Washington Irving School #14 in Indianapolis during the 2025-2026 School Year? Metzger Rosta LLP and Connell Michael LLP are conducting an investigation into allegations that a former special education teacher physically abused vulnerable students while employed at Indianapolis Public Schools' Washington Irving Neighborhood School #14. Please read and share.

Our firms currently represent multiple children and their families in connection with abuse allegations of children at IPS Washington Irving Neighborhood School 14. Many of the children involved have significant disabilities and were unable to communicate or report what was allegedly happening to them. The allegations raise serious concerns about the safety of some of the school system’s most vulnerable students and whether warning signs were recognized, reported, addressed, or ignored.

Our investigation remains active, and we believe additional children, former employees, and other witnesses possess information. We are seeking to determine the full scope of the alleged misconduct, whether other students were affected, and what was known by school officials during employee Hunter Sesemann’s employment.

The following news reports provide additional background regarding the criminal investigation of former teacher Hunter Sesemann:

• FOX59: IPS teacher investigated after excessive force complaint https://fox59.com/news/indycrime/ips-teacher-investigated-after-excessive-force-complaint/
• WIBC: Tort Alleges IPS Teacher Repeatedly Abused Autistic Student https://wibc.com/844464/tort-alleges-ips-teacher-repeatedly-abused-autistic-student/

If your child attended Washington Irving Neighborhood School #14, particularly during the time Hunter Sesemann worked there, or if you have information regarding his conduct or the School's response to concerns about his behavior, we encourage you to contact our offices. Even information that may seem insignificant could prove critical in helping us establish the full extent of what occurred and ensuring that every affected family has an opportunity to share their own experiences and aid in the investigation.

To speak with us, please contact:

Metzger Rosta LLP
Michele Wojnar – [email protected]
(317) 703-2170

Connell Michael LLP
Lori Elmlinger – [email protected]
(317) 333-6080
Please feel free to share this post so that it reaches anyone who may have relevant information.

06/20/2026

Taxpayers fund public schools. Parents have a right to expect those schools to provide the education the law requires.

When a school fails to do that, the answer should not be “leave.”

The IDEA was enacted to open school doors to children with disabilities, not to push families back out of them.