Last September, Audrie Pott, a 15-year-old high school student in Saratoga, California took her life eight days after several partygoers sexually assaulted her at a party. According to an attorney for the Pott family, Audrie found out she had been assaulted when she saw photos of the attack being passed around online and pieced together the incident from emails and text messages. One week later, she hanged herself moments after posting to Facebook that her life was ruined.

On Thursday afternoon, the Santa Clara County Sheriff's office arrested three 16-year-old boys on suspicion of sexually assaulting Audrie Pott. Two of the boys were arrested at Saratoga High School and the third at Christopher High School in Gilroy.

After yesterday's arrests, the Pott family went into seclusion. A wound had been "reopened" after they spent the past seven months "trying to understand why their loving daughter would have taken her life at such a young age and to make sure that those responsible would be held accountable," the family's attorney Robert Allard said Friday. According to Allard, "After an extensive investigation that we have conducted on behalf of the family, there is no doubt in our minds that the victim, then only 15 years old, was savagely assaulted by her fellow high school students while she lay on a bed completely unconscious."

The boys' names are not being released, but they have been booked into juvenile hall and face two felonies and one misdemeanor each. A Santa Clara County Sheriff's lieutenant said the investigation is still ongoing.

On Friday, a message on the Audrie Pott Foundation page claimed that the three suspects may have also attempted to interfere with the investigation by destroying or deleting evidence. The Foundation also asked anyone who may have any information to contact Allard's office.

Although the press does not usually identify victims in suicide or sexual assault cases, the family wanted their daughter's name known to spread the word about her case. Sadly, Audrie's story comes shortly after new broke that 17-year-old Nova Scotia girl Rehtaeh Parsons died attempted suicide after an onslaught of teen bullying. Parsons' suicide attempt left her in critical condition and she was taken off of life support a few days later. Less than a month ago, two teenage football players from Steubenville, Ohio were found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl at a party.

[AP/Chron]