Boys arrested in alleged sexual assault of girl who killed herself

Allegations that three teenage boys sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl who later committed suicide have shaken the Santa Clara County community of Saratoga.

The boys, all 16, were taken into custody Thursday at two different high schools and booked into juvenile hall in connection with the attack on Audrie Pott, who hanged herself, according to media reports.

Officials with the Los Gatos-Saratoga school district released a statement to the San Jose Mercury News saying the they are fully cooperating with authorities and that their “sympathies go out to all of the families.”

“Collaborating with our parents, students, staff and community we will continue to work diligently to maintain a positive climate at our high schools based on respect, responsibility, and open communication that discourages cyber bullying and inappropriate conduct,” the statement read.

Robert Allard, an attorney who represents the victim’s family, said students shared photos of the attack on their cellphones. Pott posted on her Facebook page that her life was “ruined” and that she was enduring the “worst day ever” shortly before she took her life, Allard said.

The family created a foundation in Audrie’s memory to support youths by awarding scholarships.

“She was compassionate about life, her friends, her family and would never do anything to harm anyone. 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,” a statement on the foundation’s website says. “It would have been her wish that we could all learn from her unfortunate and tragic passing that somehow through the lessons learned that this tragedy could provide an impetus for change.”

Two of the boys attended Saratoga High School and the other attended Christopher High School in Gilroy. Audrie was a sophomore at Saratoga High. Saratoga is about 45 miles south of San Francisco.

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latimes.com