Health Watch

'Pregnancy Pact' Principal Stands By His Story

Admits He Does Not Remember Using The Word 'Pact'

GLOUCESTER, Mass. (CBS) ― Gloucester High School Principal Joseph Sullivan is standing by his claim that there was an agreement among a group of girls to get pregnant and raise their kids together.

Sullivan released a written statement on Thursday, backing his story, but admitting he does not remember using the word "pact" when he met with Time magazine reporter Kathleen Kingsbury. "I honestly do not remember specifically using the word 'pact' in my meeting with the Time magazine reporter, but I do specifically remember telling Ms. Kingsbury that my understanding was that a number of the pregnancies were intentional and that the students within this group were friendly with each other."

Sullivan said he released the statement "to put to rest" the idea that he was "foggy in memory," or that when pressed, his memory failed him - claims city Mayor Carolyn Kirk made earlier this week at a press conference.

In Sullivan's statement, he described how he met with Kingsbury on June 11 in his office after a scheduled department meeting. "She told me that she had questions about the previously published reports about the increased incidences of pregnancy at the high school," he said.

Sullivan said Kingsbury asked whether the distribution of birth control of prophylactic devices at the school's health center would have prevented the spike in pregnancies among teenage girls at Gloucester High. That's when, Sullivan said, he told the reporter about the alleged agreement he heard from the school's former nurse practitioner, verbal staff reports and "student/staff chatter."

He said he would not reveal the names of his sources because he does not want them to be hounded by the media like he been has for the past few weeks.

Sullivan has also refused to release the names of the expecting teens. "The affected children need to be left alone with their parents and families to deal with the consequences of their actions. Intense media attention needs to come to a stop as it distorts the reality of the situation by focusing attention on the sources of information about the problem of 'children having children' instead of seeking solutions to the problem itself."

Earlier this week, one of the pregnant teens spoke publicly about the Time magazine story on ABC's Good Morning America. Lindsey Oliver, 17, said that the city's high rate of pregnancies was "unlucky" and a "coincidence."

She said a group of girls who were already pregnant decided to help each other finish school and raise their kids. She said her pregnancy was unplanned.

Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk said there is no evidence of a pact among the pregnant teens. "We have not been able to confirm the existence of a pact," she said. "We are seeking to understand whether it's based on rumor or in fact."

She also released a statement on Thursday, responding to Sullivan. "Despite heavy criticism since my press conference, if I had to do it over, I would again stand up and protect the privacy of Gloucester families."

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)