No criminal charges will be filed in connection with the suicide of 10-year-old Sammy Teusch, an Indiana boy who took his own life after months of bullying by fellow students, police have announced.
That decision brings no peace to Sammy's father. "Nobody's going to be held responsible for nothing," Sam Teusch tells Inside Edition Digital. He says he and his wife calledGreenfield Intermediate School 20 times to report their boy was being bullied and attacked by kids who broke his glasses, hit him in the face and tormented him over his teeth and his thick prescription glasses.
"We're a good family," the dad says. "We've been through devastation and heartbreak."
Greenfield Police announced Friday they were closing the criminial investigation into the boy's May 5 suicide. There will be no charges filed in connection with the death, according to a statement fromChief Brian Hartman.
"Any time there is a tragic event, we, as a society, want to place blame on someone or something to help take away the pain we are experiencing and get some understanding," the chief said.
Though investigators did find evidence of "some bullying" on and off school grounds, "school records show these incidents were addressed," the statement said. "Bullying is an issue in our society, whether you are a child or an adult."
Authorities also released the findings of an autopsy. His death was deemed a suicide, according to the coroner's office.In an earlier interview with Inside Edition Digital , the father had declined to say how his son took his life.
The child's body had been found in his room when his 13-year-old brother came to get him for breakfast.
Sammy had recently been hit in the face with an iPad, which broke his glasses, and he was relentlessly tormented by kids who called him ugly, made fun of his mother and called his 11-year-old sister a "whore," the dad said.
In closing the criminal investigation, the police chief also noted that bullying and child suicide was a societal problem.
"We as a society place so much pressure on them through social media, sports, school work, having to get a job, as well as helping around the house that we forget they are just kids and have their own stress and so little life experience to deal with it all," the chief said.
The school district encouraged any student or parent concerned about bullying to come forward and talk with campus officials.
Sammy's dad says he did just that, and still his son suffered.
The system must be changed, the father says. The family has established a GoFundMe campaign to help with costs. They also started a Change.org petition to push for federal laws protecting children from being abused at school.
"We have to make things better for the kids," he says. Bullying is "rampant, it's a problem and it's an epidemic. People have to know."
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