Audrie Pott's family implores Saratoga High School classmates who saw photos of alleged sexual assaults to help them piece together the details of the event that led to their daughter's suicide last September.
At a press conference held Monday morning, Larry Pott, Audrie’s father, urged students to “do the right thing” and tell authorities what they know about what happened. The Pott family lawyer Robert Allard also urged parents whose children may know anything about the photos or photos taken of Audrie to come forward.
Four years ago, Audrie Pott, 11, was in the color guard of the only middle school band to march in President Obama’s first inaugural parade.
“The President’s young daughters waved and cheered loudest for [this] group as all the other performers were so much older,” says a Pott family online posting.
Last September, Audrie committed suicide after a group of boys she thought were her friends allegedly assaulted her, wrote and drew on her, and took photos of her private parts and then disseminated the pictures through text and internet.
Prior to hanging herself, Audrie wrote on Facebook, “My life is ruined now.”
At a Labor’s Day weekend unsupervised sleepover party at her girlfriend’s house, Audrie and her friends drank alcohol mixed with Gatorade. Audrie is said to have went upstairs alone to a bedroom to sleep, but she awoke the next morning to discover signs that she had been sexually assaulted, including “some drawing on her body in some private parts.”
In the Audrie Pott Foundation website, the Pott family describes Audrie as a talented kid that loved playing the viola and piano and loved to sing. She has soloed at age four before 1,000 people in church. She also loved scoring goals in soccer, volunteering at local horse stables and going on grueling hikes.
“She was compassionate about life, her friends, her family and would never do anything to harm anyone,” the page says. “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.”
This Friday night, a candlelight vigil will be held for the late-Audrie Pott at 8 p.m. at Saratoga High School in Saratoga, Calif.
