Saratoga, Calif. A few days after Audrie Pott killed herself, while her baffled parents were grieving and students across the Saratoga High School campus wore her favorite color, teal, in her memory, a couple of the 15-year-old girls closest friends came to Audries mother and delivered a shocking message: There is more to this than you know.. A GIRL is accused of "encouraging" the gang rape of a classmate and taking pictures of the alleged sexual abuse that were . She was a good kid and she had a long life ahead. ", Pott went to Saratoga High School, pictured. The parents of Audrie Pott, a 15-year-old Saratoga girl who killed herself after she was allegedly sexually assaulted at a party last year, added a new female defendant to a suit they filed in San . [13], A documentary film titled Audrie & Daisy, about the sexual assaults and social media bullying of Audrie Pott and Daisy Coleman, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2016. When she drank, the self-consciousness that had afflicted her since junior high melted away. They are goofy and silly. Divorced parents is not something unique. In the feature, Pott is quoted confronting her male classmates who were at the party, saying a female friend told her about everything that happened. Most, she says, dont make the local news or even reach school administrators because the girls are too embarrassed to do anything. Trump Melts Down Over Murdoch Admitting Fox Lied About Election Fraud 'I swear to god if u still have those pictures illl killl u [sic],' she wrote to one of her alleged attackers in the days after the party. But the story that things went viral, that the picture went up on Facebook, it is flat untrue. When she returned to school, she missed classes to avoid people and had an argument with one of her closest friends, Kathy Atabakhsh, who accused her of becoming a different person. ill make sure nothing goes around AUDRIE: its gonna get out. i fucking hate people. The boys are just so stupid. Select from premium Audrie Pott of the highest quality. ", As a rebuttal, the Potts' family lawyer, Robert Allard, responded in a statement: "Nothing remotely would cause her to do this. With Audrie still sprawled out on the bed and unresponsive, the boys allegedly fingered her and took pictures on their phones. None of boys are named because they are juveniles involved in an open legal investigation. Her father and stepmother, Lisa, thought she was basically a happy kid, but Audries friends got earfuls about how she fought with her stepmom. She messaged one boy, vowing to kill him if he still had the images. Audrie Pott, 15, hanged herself on Sept. 10, 2012, eight days after a party in which she says she was sexually assaulted and was drawn on using markers. She was so different than how I knew her to be. Audrie Pott, a 15-year-old high school student from Saratoga, California, went to a classmate's house party where she was raped and sexually abused after she passed out drunk. This can mean rape victims get more justice than in years past. World; Girl 'encouraged' gang rape of Audrie Pott who committed suicide. It was hard for her to hear that from a close friend. She remembers the last words she said to Audrie. Divorced parents is not something unique. Joe and Ron remained at Saratoga. Audrie Pott, a 15 year-old student attending Saratoga High School in California, attempted suicide by hanging herself after being sexually assaulted by three teenage boys at a party eight days earlier. In the wake of Audries death, Saratoga police agreed with school administrators to wait until the following week, September 17th, to initiate an investigation to allow students, friends and staff to mourn and grieve.. Sexting Shame & Suicide Illustration by Jesse Lenz. Thoughts from Audrie Pott are written on paper in her home in Saratoga, Calif. writer Nina Burleigh reveals in a powerful piece in Rolling Stone, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Something about the silence pushed a panic button inside her. In police interviews, the teenagers admitted to coloring half of her face black with marker, then pulling down her bra, taking off her shorts and drawing on her breasts and near her genitals. When they got to their ranch-style home, where they had been living alone together since Sheila had split with her boyfriend the year before, Audrie retreated to her bedroom, with its Audrey Hepburn poster and silk-upholstered window seat. She missed only one day of school that week and put on a brave face. According to accounts told to the police, three classmates that Pott had known since middle school helped carry the intoxicated teen upstairs. She had started to drink a little and had dated a slightly older guy. . How much punishment can they mete out to boys, who in many cases are only a year or two removed from childhood, who seem to think they are committing pranks with phones and passed-out girls, and for whom the ultimate charge rape means the end of their lives before they start? The door was locked. The audacity of the boys to share the horrifying images in Audries case was the critical piece of evidence that led to their arrests on Thursday, authorities say, a stunning example of how cyberbullying can lead to tragedy and provide a digital trail for police. For most of her life, Audrie shuttled between her fathers sprawling hillside home and her mothers smaller house. Bill wrote anal above her ass with an arrow pointing down. The accused boys kept going to school, whispers died down. And those cases, if you have sex, you can go to jail. 'As much as we strongly disagree with and are actively attempting to change the lenient privacy laws afforded to juveniles, even when they commit as here heinous acts on an unconscious minor, we cannot publicly comment on any aspect of any criminal proceedings involving these young men,' Robert Allard, an attorney for Lawrence and Sheila Pott - Audrie's parents - said in a statement to SFGate. Sheila Pott poses with a portrait of her daughter Audrie in Los Altos, Calif., ON May 23, 2013. We are hopeful that everyone understands that these boys, none of whom have ever been in trouble with the law, are to be regarded as innocent.. There were some girls that sent pictures to any guys that asked. Audrie wrote that the whole school knows. Audrie had a lot of other problems in her life, and everybody in Saratoga knows that., Its a sentiment shared by many parents around town. Only one parent of the accused boys returned a call to Rolling Stone. 'She had been, literally, the best person you could meet always honest and trustworthy,' Kathy told Rolling Stone. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. We are hopeful that everyone understands that these boys, none of whom have ever been in trouble with the law, are to be regarded as innocent., The lawyer representing the Pott family on Friday said, however, that there was nothing else so distressing in her life that would cause her to kill herself. What really strikes me is that, when it comes to recording sexual assaults and wanting to show it off, the young men committing them are not seeing them as crimes, they see them as pranks. Sara 15, pretty, slim and blond and Audrie had become close that summer and were exploring a new realm of boys, bottles and small parties, preferably at parent-free houses, that the Saratoga kids call kickbacks.. And she remembered the green ink shed noticed around her daughters cleavage, weird markings that Audrie had refused to explain. (KNTV). Whats that? she asked. At some point Audrie went to a bedroom and fell asleep. In the aftermath of that tragedy, Los Gatos took steps to address the issue by launching counseling and educational outreach services for the problems teens run into with sexual images and technology. They also took turns scribbling crass comments with a black permanent marker all over her naked body. At dinnertime, Sheila stood beside her and noticed a green strip of ink on her daughters cleavage. In another, she speaks with another of the alleged assaulters. Nothing remotely would cause her to do this, Allard said. She had been sexually assaulted at a party eight days earlier by three 16-year-old boys she knew, and nude pictures of her were posted online with accompanying bullying. She talked to Amanda on the phone and told her friend about waking up stripped and graffitied. Around 20 minutes passed before Sheila decided to check on her daughter. It would have been so hard for Audrie to go back to school. Every two minutes, a sexual assault happens in the U.S., and nearly 50 percent of the victims are under the age of 18, according to Katherine Hull, a spokeswoman for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network: The demographic of high school- and college-age women is at highest risk for sexual assault. More than half of the incidents go unreported, advocates say. She refused to eat in public. Pott's family has declined to comment on the criminal case, but appear to be outraged by the anonymity the boy's get to enjoy. Many are too humiliated to stay in school. The Pott family believes the damaged and missing devices delayed the investigation for up to seven months while the police tried to recover enough evidence to charge the teens with sexual battery and possession of child pornography. This was not Steubenville. Adding another layer of tragedy to Audrie Potts death is that virtually the same thing had happened in the town three years earlier. Audrie Taylor Pott (May 27, 1997 September 12, 2012)[1] was a 15-year-old student at Saratoga High School in Saratoga, California, who died by suicide. Jun. The three teens, aged 16 to 17, pleaded guilty to the attack and taking photos in . Pott's parents also filed a lawsuit against the three teenagers, and in July 2013 they added a fifteen-year-old girl as a defendant in the suit, alleging she was present during the assault and later lied about it to help cover it up. It was a different kind of photo that precipitated her 2012 suicide. A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization providing anti-cyberbullying presentations to schools, art and music scholarships, grants for school. In the following days, Pott was bullied by some who saw the photographs. The filing also mentions an 'altercation' between Audrie and two of her friends shortly before her death. ", Larry Pott and his wife, Lisa, pose for a portrait holding a picture of Larry's daughter Audrie in Saratoga, Calif. Larry Pott and his first wife, Sheila, had divorced years earlier. 'This is the most ridiculous thing I've seen!' Saratoga High School, with its country-club-worthyquad, Olympic-size swimming pool and plush tennis courts, is one of those affluent California schools American teens recognize from movies and TV. Paramedics arrived within a few minutes. Find Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok profiles, images and more on IDCrawl - free people search website. Three teenage boys have admitted to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old . Audrie Pott Foundation. In the week since school had started, girls had been giving her looks, and guys had congregated around phones, smirking. But his office is pushing the California Assembly to write a law making cyberbullying an aggravating element in sexual-assault cases. But Sheila couldnt pry the cause of the academic struggles out of her daughter. Receive small business resources and advice about entrepreneurial info, home based business, business franchises and startup opportunities for entrepreneurs. At lunchtime, Audrie texted her mom at work: Mom, please pick me up. Sheila Pott, a mortgage-loan officer, asked why and whether Audrie couldnt wait for her to finish a business meeting. Grieving: Audrie's mother, Sheila Pott, found her daughter hanging in the bathroom in September 2012. Shit always does. As Audries mother hunted for clues, a female sheriffs deputy assigned to patrol Saratoga High School began hearing whispers that at least one graphic and humiliating photo of Audrie was racing through social media. Savannah went public with their names after that, nearly earning herself a contempt-of-court citation because of the juvenile-court privacy regulations, but ultimately influenced the court to rule for the boys to have a misdemeanor on their records for life. They restarted Audries heart, but it was too late. This story is from the September 26th, 2013 issue of Rolling Stone. Teenagers using technology to sexually harass and bully others is a phenomenon that has been made shockingly effortless by the advent of new technology. As part of the terms of settlement, two of the boys were required to verbally apologize in open court, admit again to the sexual assault, admit to their role in the death of Audrie Pott, agree to being filmed in a documentary, pay a combined $950,000, support the petition for an honorary diploma for Audrie Pott, and give ten presentations on sexual assault and sexting. Sheila began to suspect that bullying played a role and called a meeting with Audrie and school officials because she began to worry Saratoga wasnt doing enough to help her daughter. She had been, literally, the best person you could meet always honest and trustworthy, Kathy says, recalling the episode almost a year later. A wrongful-death lawsuit they brought against two Saratoga, Calif., high school boys who . That night, Audrie again confronted Joe on Facebook, accusing him of sharing the photos. Then three boys shed known since middle school Bill, Joe and Ron and one of their friends, Mary, helped her upstairs into a bedroom (the names of these four have been changed because of the boys status in a juvenile case). Audries story swept across the country Friday, echoing recent cases in Nova Scotia, Canada, and Steubenville, Ohio, involving drinking, sexual assault and online photos. When they arrested the boys, police seized new phones and other electronic gadgetry their parents had bought to replace what authorities took in the fall. Snubbing the King: Why Don't Big Stars Want to Perform at Charles' Coronation? JOSH: lol that shit gets around haha everyone knows mostly everything hahaah AUDRIE: oh my god. 'This case is and will always be about the tragic consequences associated with sexual assault and cyber bullying.'. After admitting to the attack - during which the three teens 'digitally penetrated' the young girl - the boys each were sentenced to serve 30 to 45 days in a juvenile detention facility. He threw up in the kitchen sink into which someone had already tossed Audries iPhone. [8] Markers were also used to draw and write on her body, and photographs were taken and distributed via social network and MMS. The Pott family is trying to push for stricter cyber-bullying laws. According to her mother, the teen got drunk at a party in 2011 and was gang-raped by four boys, who snapped a picture of the scene and posted it online. She was also bullied. One student said there were no assemblies and no announcements about the arrests. In the car and all that day, Audrie was pensive and quiet. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, the school is home to high-achieving children of parents working at Apple, eBay, Netflix and other tech corporations headquartered within 50 miles. Audrie Taylor Pott (May 27, 1997 - September 12, 2012) [1] was a 15-year-old student at Saratoga High School in Saratoga, California, who died by suicide. We are extremely saddened about what happened to Audrie, he says. The Mandalorian Season Three Gets Off to a Disappointing Start (Audrie Pott Foundation via Facebook). Audrie brushed her off. And I thought she was drunk. And She made out with two boys. She was drunk and Im sure she liked it. When Audries old middle-school friends, Kathy, Amanda Le and another girl, arrived around 9 p.m., there was no music, just the sound of sloppy-drunk talk. This is the worst day of my life, read another. Edgewood Center for Children and . Audrie Pott was founded hanged photos of an alleged assault circulated (Facebook) Three Californian teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of sexual assaulting a 15-year . I said, Please dont send sexts if you get caught, its pornography. 'I promise it wasn't me.'. A sign at Saratoga High School in support of Audrie Pott. Looking back on it, her friends think that these problems developed in middle school, during several years of sexually tinged bullying. SAN JOSE -- An attorney for the family of a 15-year-old who killed herself after an alleged sexual assault by classmates said Monday that Audrie Pott had "some markings . Most disturbing is the attempt to link Audreys suicide to the specific actions of these three boys, according to the statement from Eric Geffon, Alan Lagod and Benjamin Williams. She wouldnt eat anything for breakfast, says Amanda, one of Audries closest friends. In the little dry cleaners, boutiques, delis and coffee shops along Saratogas curving main street, Big Basin Way, and in the mansions up on the purple, piney mountainsides that shade the town long before sunset, two camps formed. Rape stats may be no higher than in years past, but the numbers are as shocking as ever. Photos of Audrie Pott being raped by three of her classmates never went "viral" at the high school, students at the school are now saying. The friends parents were out of town for the weekend, he said, and the teens had access to an unlocked liquor cabinet. Audrie Pott was born on May 27th, 1997. A curvaceous sophomore at Saratoga High School, dressed in the cool-girls uniform of a low-cut top and supershort skirt, she looked the same as always, but inside she was quivering with humiliation. She gives a tour of Audries bedroom, where she hasnt moved a thing. It is uncertain whether they will be tried as adults. Teachers know. They want the boys to like them, says Amanda. Steubenville, Ohio, spent months in the national headlines last summer after two football players raped a drunk high school girl at a party. People falling over, walking around. She was extremely angry that an image was captured and it was being disseminated. Her friend, identified only as Jane C., also helped her into the room, but could have left after. She was also on Facebook with Josh. The news from him was not good. One of Audries friends from middle school was overheard telling another student, Shut down your Facebooks, cops are looking. Another friend had even acknowledged in a Facebook message to Audrie before she died that he didnt want to discuss it further on Facebook presumably because there would be a record. Counseling & Support Services for Youth (CASSY): 408-493-5289 (general number), 855-278-4204 (crisis) LGSUHSD anonymous hotline: submit online or 800-782-7463. In the end, whether the pictures really went viral or not is irrelevant. But Saratoga school officials would not make that link, publicly denying that Audries suicide had anything to do with events that occurred at the school. . If something does happen, the girls feel you have to deal with it on your own. SARATOGA When Audrie Pott woke up in her friend's house the morning of Sept. 2, after an apparent night of heavy drinking, she found herself undressed and her body covered in marker-drawn . They hear about it.. On Friday, Robinson deferred comment to the superintendent of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District. ASB president Sasan Sadaat agreed that the photos were far less widespread than originally claimed. I could sue The New York Times for invading my privacy or Rolling Stone for defaming me, Andrews says. In addition to the criminal charges, the Potts have filed a civil lawsuit against the teens they say are responsible for their daughter's suicide. He would pick one person to make fun of for a few weeks, then move on to another, Amanda says. 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