Juvenile Detective Ron Whaley said investigation is ongoing in the case of a pregnant teen who was brutally beaten, and said that despite a lack of cooperation from parents, charges are pending in the Sept. 19 incident.

According to Whaley, the incident began when the pregnant teen, a student at Eunice High School, reported to school administrators about being bullied by other teen girls.

Whaley said the principal spoke with the girl’s alleged tormentors, and they were told to leave her alone.

Whaley said some of the accused bullies and their friends allegedly decided to retaliate by attacking the pregnant girl at Beulah Gardens.

The pregnant teen was pushed to the ground, and kicked and punched, and one of the assailants hit the girl in the head with brass knuckles, Whaley said.

Police records indicate the incident happened shortly after 7 p.m. Sept. 19, and moved to outside the girl’s home in the 200 block of South Beulah.

By that time, the fight had grown to include eight to ten juveniles and at least six adults, on both sides of the brawl.

Whaley said his investigation indicates some of the adults were even involved in hitting the pregnant girl, and that another adult stood by and took pictures or video while the girl was beaten.

The pregnant teen was admitted to the hospital and released the next day, but has not returned to school since that time, Whaley said, and was unsure if the beating has caused complications with her pregnancy.

Whaley said a lack of cooperation on the part of parents of juveniles involved in the incident has delayed his investigation.

“Some of them did not want to have anything to do with the police, period, and they’ve made that statement, that they did not want their kids to talk to the police, that they did not want to talk to the police, because they do not like the police,” Whaley said. “they specifically made that clear.”

“My intentions were to have all the juveniles allegedly involved picked up so we could get their parents here,” Whaley said, but that a “breakdown of communication in the system” at the judicial level has scrapped that plan, at least for the moment.

The investigation is still ongoing, and charges are pending against the juveniles and parents involved.

“I’m still investigating the case, getting bits and pieces together, and my intention is to get all the parents I can associate with this incident, I’m still going to proceed with filing charges against them,” Whaley said.

“It has not been dropped,” Whaley said. “A message has to be sent out that this sort of behavior is unacceptable.”