US Mayor: No proof high school girls had pregnancy pact

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-24  |     ONLINE EDITION

THE mayor of Gloucester, Massachusetts, said yesterday there is no evidence a group of young girls made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together, seeking to dispel an explosive theory put forth by the high school principal.

"Any planned blood-oath bond to become pregnant -- there is absolutely no evidence of," Mayor Carolyn Kirk said on Monday after a closed-door meeting with city, school and health leaders.

Conspicuously absent from that meeting was Gloucester High School Principal Joseph Sullivan, who has not responded to repeated requests for comment after he was quoted last week in a Time magazine story saying the girls planned to get pregnant together.

The mayor, who also sits on the school committee, said she was not comfortable having Sullivan at the meeting.

Kirk cited privacy concerns in refusing to answer many questions about the 17 girls who became pregnant this school year -- more than quadruple the school's average.

Kirk said she and Superintendent Christopher Farmer have been in touch with Sullivan, and that he was "foggy in his memory" about how he came to believe there was a pact.

"When pressed, his memory failed," Kirk said.

Authorities have talked to school and health officials who work most closely with the children and, Kirk said, "The people that worked with the children on a daily basis have said there has been no mention whatsoever of a pact."

But Time posted a story on its Web site yesterday that included new quotes from its earlier interview with Sullivan in which the principal said a lack of access to birth control didn't play a part in the surge of pregnancies.

"That bump was because of seven or eight sophomore girls. They made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together," Time quoted Sullivan as saying.

Calls to Sullivan's office and home have not been returned. So far, Sullivan is the only school or city official who has used the term "pact."