SAN JOSE — The only one of three teenagers who showed remorse and “told the truth” about what happened to Saratoga High School student Audrie Pott the night the trio sexually assaulted her has agreed to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit, according to court records and the Pott family’s lawyer.
Audrie’s parents filed the civil lawsuit, set for trial on March 30, after Audrie killed herself a week after the 2012 assault, which happened after she passed out at a house party. The boys also scrawled lewd messages on her body.
In plaintive Facebook messages the family found in the days after her death, the 15-year-old Audrie had become despondent, believing that rumors as well as photos of her half-naked body were circulating around school.
“My life is over, ” Audrie posted in private messages on Facebook in the days before her suicide. “I have a reputation for a night I don’t even remember, and the whole school knows.”
The case of Audrie Pott brought international attention to the tragic consequences of teenage drinking, abhorrent behavior and handy cellphone cameras. Her parents, Lawrence and Sheila Pott, led the campaign to pass California’s “Audrie’s Law,” which allows prosecutors to seek harsher sentences for juvenile sex offenders who take pictures of their crimes and use them to bully the victims.
More than a year ago, all three of the teenage boys admitted in juvenile court that they sexually assaulted Audrie, according to court records obtained by this newspaper. And while the photos did not “go viral,” the teens admitted to possessing cellphone photos of her body sprawled on the bed.
One of the teens was sentenced to 45 consecutive days in Santa Clara County juvenile hall. The other two, including the one who settled the civil lawsuit, were sentenced to serve 30 days on weekends, allowing them to attend school on weekdays.
The Pott family, which considered the punishments tantamount to “weekend detention,” has led an unsuccessful petition drive to have the assailants expelled from school. Two remain at Saratoga High, and the third transferred to Christopher High in Gilroy. All three are set to graduate this spring.
The parents filed the lawsuit in part to hold the teenagers more accountable for their actions, bring attention to teenage sexual assault and find out the truth of what happened to their daughter. Although all three teenagers are now 18, this newspaper is not naming them because they were juveniles — high school sophomores — when they committed the crime.
Attorney Bob Allard said Audrie’s parents chose to settle with the one teen because he was the only one who was truthful about what happened at the Labor Day weekend house party, where the vodka flowed freely, while the parents of one of Audrie’s friends were out of town. The teen was the first one to admit that all three boys had digitally penetrated Audrie and that she was unconscious at the time, Allard said.
“He’s accepted responsibility. He’s told us the truth of what happened in that room. The others have not,” Allard said. “They’re still standing by their claim that Audrie was awake and consented to their acts.”
Both sides agreed to the “good faith” settlement, according to court records. The financial details were not revealed, however, and a Santa Clara County judge is scheduled to approve the settlement later this week.
Attorney Alison Crane, representing the teen who agreed to settle the case, did not return a phone message or an email seeking comment.
Phil Pereira, who represents one of the other teens, declined to comment. “The defense since the beginning of this case has not wanted to try this case in the press,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s appropriate, and I don’t think it’s in my client’s best interest at this time.”
Particularly difficult for Audrie’s parents, Allard said, is the lack of remorse they’ve seen from the two remaining teens. Had they sincerely apologized, the attorney said, they might not have been sued.
“If they had simply knocked on the door of the Pott household, apologized, accepted responsibility and jumped headfirst into our quest to educate our youth by, for example, speaking at high schools about the mistakes they made and how this can be prevented, there would be no civil lawsuit,” Allard said. “Instead, we got denials and lies, sexually assaulting Audrie Pott all over again — in her grave, basically — smearing her family, smearing her.”
Contact Julia Prodis Sulek at 408-278-3409. Follow her at twitter.com/juliasulek
