Once again, a teenage girl has become a victim of assault by a group of teenage boys. This time, the incident resulted in suicide.
In Northern California, three 16-year-old boys have been arrested. They are charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl named Audrie Pott, causing her to hang herself 8 days after the attack last fall.
The victim’s family attorney, Robert Allard, said students shared pictures of the assault via cellphone and that the girl later posted on Facebook that her life was “ruined.”
“They did unimaginable things to her while she was unconscious,” Allard said.
Audrie took her life on September 12, 2012, after discovering that the boys distributed photos of her attack around the school and posted photos online.
Audrie’s parents would like the boys prosecuted as adults.
“What these boys did is beyond unconscionable,” Allard said. “They should be held to the highest standard of the law to make sure this never ever happens again.”
Similar to the Steubenville incident, the assault happened at a party. Audrie attended a gathering at a friend’s house whose parents were away. About 10 students were present and hard liquor mixed with Gatorade was being handed out to partygoers.
Audrie got very drunk and wound up unconscious in a bedroom where three male teens performed sexual acts on her.
A photo of Audrie lying naked was taken and quickly spread around.
“It went viral,” Allard told Patch. “It was pervasively disseminated.”
DETAILS: Second Steubenville Case?
Audrie’s parents, who did not find out about the attack until after their daughter’s death, are seeking to sue 10 people, students and parents, in association with Audrie’s death.
Friends and family members remember her as a creative artist, pianist, and soccer player.
Family members have since created the Audrie Pott Foundation to provide music and art scholarships to students in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Rest in peace, Audrie.
