In California, a girl ended her life after she was raped by three boys at her school.
Back in 2012, Audrie Pott, 15, got drunk at a classmate’s house party. Three teen boys took advantage of the passed-out girl and raped her.
To make matters worse, the sex offenders allegedly took photos of the assault and used their cell phones to spread them “like wildfire” through Saratoga High School in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“The whole school knows…. My life is ruined,” Audrie wrote on her Facebook page at that time. Eight days later, on Sept. 10, 2012, she hanged herself.
Audrie’s parents wanted the sex offenders who allegedly drove their daughter to suicide through rape and public humiliation to be punished as adults.
The sex offenders were and are accused of sexually abusing the 15-year-old girl.
According to Attorney Robert Allard, Pott’s family lawyer, Audrie’s parents did not know about the rape and cyberbullying of their daughter until after her suicide.
Allard said that the suspect’s arrests “reopened a wound” for the family.
“Based on what we know, she was unconscious, there were multiple boys in the room with her,” Allard said. “They did unimaginable things to her while she was unconscious.”
Authorities said that two of the teen boys were arrested at Saratoga High. The third suspect, a former Saratoga High student, was picked up at Christopher High School in Gilroy.
NBC Bay reported that the boys faced sexual battery charges and might be charged with the dissemination of child pornography because the images went viral online. Their names were not released at that time because they are minors.
“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.”
Following her death, the Pott family started the Audrie Pott Foundation to provide scholarships for students of music and art —two of Audrie’s passions.
The foundation also aims to promote tragedy prevention by counseling youths through depression.
“She was compassionate about life, her friends, her family, and would never do anything to harm anyone,” the website reads. “She was in the process of developing the ability to cope with the cruelty of this world but had not quite figured it all out.”
“Ultimately, she had not yet acquired the antibiotics to deal with the challenges present for teens in today’s society.”