This undated photo provided by her family via attorney Robert Allard shows Audrie Pott. A Northern California sheriff's office has arrested three 16-year-old boys on accusations that they sexually battered the 15-year-old girl who hanged herself eight days after the attack last fall. Santa Clara County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jose Cardoza says the teens were arrested Thursday, April 11, 2013, two at Saratoga High School and a third at Christopher High School in Gilroy (AP Photo/Family photo provided by attorney Robert Allard)
SARATOGA -- Shortly after Audrie Pott took her own life in September, a Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputy assigned to Saratoga High School began hearing whispers that students had been sharing explicit images of the 15-year-old girl.
Friday, the sheriff's office offered more insight into the seven-month investigation that culminated with the arrest Thursday of three teenage boys accused of sexually assaulting Audrie, who was intoxicated and unconscious at an unsupervised house party eight days before she committed suicide.
The deputy working as a school resource officer at Saratoga High began hearing rumors about possible explicit images of Audrie being shared amongst students, said Lt. Jose Cardoza, a sheriff's spokesman. Cardoza said detectives took the case after someone offered a tip suggesting that the material was of an alleged sexual assault of Audrie.
Audrie had gone to a female friend's house on Sept. 2, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, according to Robert Allard, an attorney for her family. The friend's parents had gone out of town for the weekend, Allard said, and the teens had access to an unlocked liquor cabinet.
The teens, including Audrie, began drinking alcohol mixed with Gatorade, Allard said.
At some point Audrie reportedly went to an upstairs bedroom and fell asleep.
She woke up, Allard said, "to the worst nightmare imaginable."
"They did unimaginable things to her while she was unconscious,"
Allard said. "A photo or multiple photos were taken of the assault as it was taking place."
The digital photos "spread like wildfire" among students at Saratoga and at least one image was posted on the Internet, Allard said.
Audrie posted a series of tortured messages on Facebook including one describing the "worst day in her life." Her final post was dated Sept. 7. She died Sept. 10.
"I think it's clear from the Facebook message that she was devastated and humiliated by what had taken place," said Ed Vasquez, a spokesman for Allard's law firm, Corsiglia McMahon & Allard. "She was extremely angry that an image was captured and it was being disseminated. She was humiliated that everybody at the school would find out and she wanted answers from people at the party about what happened."
This newspaper does not typically identify victims of sexual assault. But in this case, Pott's family wanted her name and case known, Allard said. The family, which has reportedly gone into seclusion, also provided a photo of the teen in happier times.
The boys who were arrested Thursday -- two at Saratoga High School and one at Christopher High School in Gilroy -- were booked into juvenile hall, each on suspicion of two felonies and one misdemeanor count covering the sexual assault and subsequent distribution of the images. Officials are withholding their names because they are juveniles. Allard said Audrie's parents hope they won't be treated as juveniles in court.
It is unclear whether they will be: The District Attorney's Office said it is legally barred from publicly releasing the details of juvenile prosecutions.
Deputy District Attorney Jaron Shipp, who recently finished a stint on the office's juvenile justice team, said the state legislature specifically set a higher-than-usual standard to call for the adult prosecution of sexual assaults involving intoxicated minors. As opposed to other violent crimes such as premeditated murder, there is nothing compulsory in the law to prosecute defendants in this case as adults.
Audrie's parents and stepmother, who have asked for privacy until a Tuesday news conference, started a foundation aimed at providing kids with music and art scholarships -- two of the great loves in their daughter's life. The Audrie Pott Foundation, at audriepottfoundation.com, also offers youth counseling and support.
Friday, someone from the foundation posted a message on its Facebook page stating, "We suspect that the boys who we believe are responsible for Audrie's death took deliberate steps to destroy evidence and interfere with the police investigation. If students have information about this crime, if they saw pictures or know anything that will assist in bringing these young men to justice, please come forward."
"We know that the kids know what happened and we know parents have probably heard rumors," Vasquez said. "It's imperative parents sit down with their kids and have a discussion about what is known, and these kids should come forward if they have something. It is the responsible thing to do.
"What are you teaching your kids by having them clam up?"
Audrie had been bullied for a year or two before the Labor Day weekend party, Vasquez said, but could not say whether those incidents involved the same group of teens accused in the sexual assault.
Two weeks after Audrie's death, Saratoga High School Principal Paul Robinson brushed off claims that bullying had anything to do with her suicide, a stance that has since been vehemently rebuffed.
"She had been bullied and it had been brought to the school's attention," Vasquez said. "Saratoga High School was aware that the parents had spoken to them about their daughter being bullied."
They want their daughter's case to become a model for a law bearing her name.
"Audrie's Law would address some of the things that happened here," Allard said. "There are two common elements here that are being repeated across the country -- sexual assault by an adolescent and the cyberbullying that follows."
Staff writers Mark Emmons and Erin Ivie contributed to this report. Contact Robert Salonga at 408-920-5002. Follow him at Twitter.com/robertsalonga. Contact Mark Gomez at 408-920-5869. Follow him at Twitter.com/robertsalonga.
