The devastated mother of a 12-year-old girl who died by suicide after allegedly facing relentless school bullying has asked the public not to direct blame at her daughter's classmates.
Charlotte's grief-stricken parents announced in a letter read aloud by 2GB host Ben Fordham that their beloved daughter tragically died on September 9.
The young girl left a heartbreaking goodbye note to her family, revealing that life was "too difficult" for her to continue after being a victim of alleged bullying at school. The school urged her parents to "share [her] story to raise awareness".
"Charlotte has left such a big hole in our lives, and she's so deeply, deeply missed. The reports you have received are correct. My daughter was bullied by girls that still attend the school today," the family said.
Her distraught parents, Mat and Kelly, claimed that they raised the issue of bullying with their daughter's school, Santa Sabina College in Sydney, Australia, but were brushed aside after the girls allegedly involved denied it during the investigation.
"That’s it. Case closed. Move on. Well, my beautiful daughter’s life won’t move on and I’ll never get to say goodbye," they said, declaring that they won't let Charlotte's memory "be swept under the carpet either," per 9 News.
The father of one of Charlotte's friends from outside school also called into the radio show last week and said that the late girl's classmates took advantage "of some information about her and used it against her, and obviously it was enough to push her to the brink," per another report by the same outlet.
"They went after the poor kid," the father continued. "We can't just sit back and let things like this go on and [have] no one stand up for a young lady who was battling some awful stuff."
Charlotte's brave mom has now sent an urgent plea to the public on Fordham's show, telling everyone not to place blame on the students at her late daughter's school.
"Thank you for standing up for Charlotte, something I feel I failed to do," she said. "Please, I must stress and I beg, I do not wish any little girls to feel responsible for this. I don't want any other mom not being able to wake up their child in the morning.
"They are also just little girls so they don't understand," Kelly heartbreakingly continued. "Charlotte made a mistake in a moment of grief. She did not mean to do this. She did not really understand."
Last week, Kelly revealed the heartwrenching emails she sent to the school before her daughter took her own life.
She allegedly sent her first email in 2022, telling the school that she was "worried about Charlotte being bullied," and they responded that they take bullying allegations "very seriously".
Charlotte's mom raised the issue again via email in May 2023 and June 2024, and it seemingly fell on deaf ears. She sent another email in August, informing the school that her daughter was "too upset" to attend, and has been "coming home in tears the last few weeks over friendship issues." She asked to speak with officials but unfortunately, it was too late.
Kelly sent one last email to Santa Sabina after her little girl died by suicide, writing: "I was scared to label it bullying but that's exactly what it was. I begged the school to intervene with these girls and now she is gone forever.
"She didn't deserve girls to bark in her face or scream out her name and run away, to purposely hit her with their bag and say whoops. She didn't deserve the pain she was in. She deserved love and kindness. She deserved to be treated with dignity and respect," she added.
Paulina Skerman, the principal of Santa Sabina College, has said the claims of bullying are "inconsistent" with their records, but Charlotte's mother hit back: "They must have an issue with their records or they're calling us liars. We're passing on a message from our daughter. Our daughter is not a liar."
The schoolgirl's father, Mat, also said that he was "disappointed" with the school's “unnecessary" responses to the tragic death, and claimed that he had no direct communication from officials.
“Some of the responses that have gone into the media, I think the first response was around that there’s inconsistencies in their records and I thought that comment to go out at that time when we were grieving was unnecessary," he said, News.com.au reported.
Our thoughts continue to be with Charlotte's family and friends at this time.
.jpg_CqkXzz?tr=h-184)
.jpg_P6zy08?tr=h-184)