GREENFIELD, Ind. — In a statement sent out by Greenfield Police Friday morning, the department says its investigation into 10-year-old Sammy Teusch's death found there was some bullying taking place in his life.
"Can I answer that there were other children who felt that and who have stated to us that Sammy was picked on and Sammy was hit, and Sammy was pushed? Yes, I can. So, I can say there was some bullying taking place," Greenfield Police Chief Brian Hartman said.
But in emails sent to 13News from the superintendent of Greenfield-Central Schools, Dr. Harold Olin, earlier this month, he denied Sammy was bullied at school.
In his initial email, Olin said, "I combed through the entries for the student, and bullying is not a theme that is noted."
And when asked for clarification, Olin sent another email saying, "To clarify...no bullying report was ever submitted by the parents or the student."
Olin went on to say, "I can only see entries that are made related to discipline. None of those entries detail bullying behavior."
Sammy's dad, Sam Teusch, read those same emails.
"It is a bold face lie, and there's no other way around that," Sam said. "He didn't sugar coat anything. He didn't try and make it any other way except 'we did nothing as parents to try and help him to go to school. We did nothing. They had no idea that this was going on because we never brought this to them.' It's a lie."
While Olin denied any bullying nearly a month ago, he's now saying something completely different.
In a statement Olin sent out on Friday, he wrote:
"Today the Greenfield Police Department (GPD) completed their investigation into the tragic death of Sammie Teusch. While the investigation was active, we have refrained from public comments to provide an objective environment for the police detectives and to allow the community to grieve. We have reviewed GPD’s statement, whose findings are consistent with the information gleaned from Greenfield-Central’s internal investigation.
Aside from directory information, student records are protected by the Family Educational Rights to Privacy Act (FERPA). Therefore, we cannot address many of the specific items related to this matter. Greenfield-Central takes all bullying concerns very seriously. We have provided and will continue to provide a safe environment for students in our schools."
"You're in a position of power where when you're in that position, your first thought needs to be of the children and of the families of the children because you're here to serve them. You're here to do whatever you can to make their situation better — not defame the parents and say that we're at fault or somebody else is at fault," Sam said.
The Greenfield police chief said the parents in no way bullied Sammy.
As for if he found the school negligent for not addressing the bullying, the police chief said he does not.