Girl Gives Birth at School, Is Held in Baby’s Death

A 15-year-old honors student gave birth to a baby boy in a high school bathroom Tuesday, then was arrested on suspicion of murder after she allegedly drowned the infant in the toilet, authorities said.

The girl apparently had concealed her pregnancy from her parents and school officials, Garden Grove Police Sgt. Mike Byrne said. The child, a full-term baby, was born alive, he said.

“Nobody knew that she was pregnant,” Byrne said.

The girl was discovered after students reported hearing a baby’s screams coming from a stall in a girls’ bathroom at Santiago High School, Byrne said. A Garden Grove police officer who was patrolling the campus went to the restroom and found the girl and the baby, who was pronounced dead on the scene about 9 a.m., authorities said. The girl, whose identity was being withheld, was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where she was reported in good condition Tuesday night, police and hospital officials said.

An autopsy on the infant was scheduled for today.

School officials reacted with shock and disbelief Tuesday.

“It’s too bad that the child didn’t have enough confidence to confide in her parents to get some help,” said Garden Grove Unified District Supt. Ed Dundon.

Dundon said the girl, a sophomore, was enrolled in advance courses at the high school. Police said the girl is of Vietnamese origin.

“I can’t imagine this happening unless it’s a cultural thing with (her feeling) guilt or shame,” Dundon said. “It’s unbelievable, with all the help that’s available, that this could happen.”

Teen-age pregnancy among unmarried Vietnamese is extremely rare and has dire consequences, said Dr. Co Dang Long Pham, a Westminster obstetrician and Vietnamese community leader. He said he sees only about one or two teen pregnancies each year.

“I think she would never dare to tell her family she is pregnant,” he said. “It would be very, very shameful to the family. . . . It’s almost a crime.”

Pham said pregnant girls are usually sent to live with relatives until the baby is born, to conceal the pregnancy, but that some girls may be thrown out of their homes. He added that birth control is not discussed in traditional Vietnamese families.

“They just teach daughters not to have sex,” Pham said. “They teach that virginity is very important.”

According to the Orange County Health Care Agency, 3,229 females between ages 10 and 19 gave birth in Orange County in 1987. The Coalition Concerned With Adolescent Pregnancies reported that 6,000 teen-agers had abortions that same year.

Santiago High students are required to take a semester of classes on health, which includes a two-week sex education course, students said. Most students take the course in their sophomore year, but some take it later, they said.

Santiago High School Principal Bob O’Higgins declined comment Tuesday on the incident, referring all inquiries to the Garden Grove police. He said late Tuesday night that he would consult with the police before deciding today what to tell the campus’s 1,900 students.

“They will make the best decision on the best thing to do,” O’Higgins said.

Glenda Cox, an interior decorating teacher whose classroom is next to the restroom, said two Garden Grove police officers were posted outside it to keep students out.

Cox said one of her students had been turned away from the restroom by the officers shortly after the second class period started. Students in her class had difficulty concentrating on a guest lecturer with the activity outside.

“They were anxious about going out to see what was going on,” Cox said.

Lacking a formal announcement of what had happened, Cox and other teachers and students relied on campus gossip.

“Everybody had different stories,” said Tam Vuong, a 16-year-old junior. “We didn’t know who the girl was.”

The restroom is located in a building housing home economics and science classes. Word that something was amiss spread quickly, even to classrooms on the opposite side of the building.

“A lot of students came up to me asking what happened,” said Cathie Schultz, an English teacher. “I’ve been in the dark most of the day. I expect we’ll know more tomorrow.”

Staff writers Matt Lait, Davan Maharaj and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this story.