Student, 14, committed suicide 'after he was humiliated by classmate who secretly filmed him in bathroom before spreading it around the school'

Matthew Burdette took his life in November and his family has struggled to get answers from the school about what happened before his death



Friends told them that a classmate had filmed Matthew while he was in a school bathroom before spreading the footage around the school

Matthew was bullied for two weeks before he took his life, they said



The school district has failed to give the family any information and has not said what happened - if anything - to the boy accused of filming him

Police said the boy was arrested and has a court hearing this month



Loss: Matthew Burdette committed suicide in November after weeks of bullying, his family said

A 14-year-old Boy Scout took his life after a classmate filmed him touching himself in a school bathroom before spreading the footage around, the victim's family has revealed.



Matthew Burdette committed suicide on November 29 last year - and his family are now speaking out in a bid to get answers about how the school acted before and after his death.



After officials at University City High School in San Diego, California refused to give them information, the teenager's friends revealed that Matthew had been bullied after a video of him went viral, the family told News10.

Two weeks before his death, Matthew was kicked out of class for eating sunflower seeds and, with nowhere else to go, headed to the bathroom at University City High School, his family said.

There, a fellow classmate peered over a stall and recorded Matthew. He posted the video to Snapchat, Vine and other social networking sites, claiming the teen was masturbating in the footage.

'It went viral,' his distraught aunt, Laura Burdette Mechak, told News 10.



'It went beyond his school. It went to other schools in California. Kids in the neighborhood who didn't go to Matthew's school had heard about it and seen the video that was taken of him.'



For two weeks, teenagers made his life 'miserable', his aunt said.

Promising: Burdette, pictured as a young Boy Scout, left a suicide note saying he didn't have any friends

Matthew never told his parents about the video. But he wrote a suicide note explaining that he didn't want to kill himself but that he had no friends and couldn't deal with school anymore, his aunt said.

After learning about the video, the parents returned to University City High School to talk to officials.

The school had launched an investigation - which the parents say means they knew about the video - but they would not tell the Burdettes what had happened to the boy accused of filming their son.

The family then went to the San Diego Police Department, where they learned that the boy who took the video confessed and had been arrested, but the District Attorney failed to answer their questions.



The DA simply told News 10 there is a hearing on the matter scheduled for July 23.



Facing these continuous roadblocks from the school and other authorities, Burdette's mother wrote a letter to the School Board demanding answers - and just minutes later, the incensed Board of Education president called them saying he had heard nothing about the incident.



Questions: Despite repeated contact with the school and DA, the family, left, do not know what happened - if anything - to the boy who is accused of posting the video of Matthew, left and right



Scene: He had attended University High School, where he played polo and was on the wrestling team

He reached out to the family saying they were in contact with the DA, but did not say if the school district had punished the boy accused of filming Matthew.

The district has not yet responded to MailOnline's requests for comment.



The family says they are not angry at the boy who filmed their son but they hope to highlight the dangers of cyberbullying. They also hope to finally get some of the answers they are looking for.

They have filed a claim against the San Diego Unified School District for failing to protect their son and have six months to file a lawsuit.

In his obituary, he was remembered as an active student.

'Matthew was a student at University High School where he played Water Polo and was on the Wrestling Team,' it read. 'He was also a Boy Scout with Troop 260 working toward his Eagle rank.'



For confidential support call the National suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-825

In the UK, contact the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details