April 16 marked the second time in six months that members of a high school football team faced felony charges for the rape of a teenage girl – a crime they photographed and then texted to friends. What’s behind this spate of heartless crimes that has already led to the death of two young women?

MercuryNews.com is reporting that three 16 year-old boys appeared in a San Jose, California courtroom on Tuesday facing charges of sexually assaulting and illicitly photographing their 15 year-old victim, Audrie Pott.

The crime occurred at a party on September 2, 2012 when nearly a dozen underage boys and girls from Saratoga High School were involved in heavy drinking. According to Robert Allard, the Pott family’s lawyer, Audrie passed out and was taken to an upstairs bedroom to sleep. Three boys that she considered to be her friends, allegedly began to sexually assault her. They also used a marker to write sexually explicit messages on her body. The boys then took pictures of the crime, and shared at least one of those photos at school, causing Audrie such profound humiliation that she committed suicide eight days later.

The girl’s agony was apparent in Facebook posts that she left in the days leading up to her death, including one on the day she died in which she said her life was over and that this was the “worst day ever.” She was later found hanging in her mother’s Los Altos home and spent the next 10 days on life support before being declared dead.

Until this point, the family had no idea what had happened to their daughter or why she would take her life.  It took seven months for the facts to be uncovered and for the boys responsible to be arrested.

But the facts only raised more questions. Why didn’t anyone speak up about what was being done to Audrie? Rumors and photos were clearly circulating on campus. And why didn’t the school do something about it?

For this reason, the Pott family filed a wrongful death claim against the school district accusing officials of ignoring prior warnings about the bullying that eventually led to Audrie’s death.

In an April 16 press conference, Audrie’s mother Sheila Pott called for an end to the “epidemic of sexual assault and cyber-bullying” plaguing the country.

“If it can happen to my daughter it can happen to anyone,” she said. “These boys weren’t strangers – these were her friends. That breach of trust would be difficult for an adult to deal with – least of all a young girl. There was no remorse here.”

Rehtaeh Parsons

Unfortunately, Mrs. Pott is not alone. Canadian authorities announced last week that they are looking into the case of 17 year-old Rehtaeh Parsons who also hung herself after an alleged rape and the posting of a photo of the crime on-line. Initially, no charges were filed against the four teen boys being investigated for the incident but a public outcry forced the government to look further into the case. If you need criminal defense lawyer for your case then browse this site.

Another high-profile teen sex crime also occurred in Steubenville, Ohio in the past year when several teens repeatedly raped an unconscious girl at a party, then used social media to publish images of the crime. Bеіng charged оf аnу kind оf criminal offence саn bе vеrу frustrating. Apart frоm badly affecting уоur personal life, іt аlѕо restricts уоur future growth prospects. In thіѕ regard, аn expert consultation іѕ required. A criminal lawyer іѕ оf great help іn thіѕ regard. Thе best раrt іѕ, hіѕ оr hеr initial consultation іѕ offered completely free оf cost. For professional criminal defense lawyer check it out here. During the trial, the callous attitude of the assailants about what they did to the girl was obvious from postings they made on Facebook, Twitter, and in text messages to friends. The two main assailants, Ma’lik Richmond and Trent Mays, both 16, have been convicted in juvenile court of rape.

“You look at these cases and see how similar they are, and you wonder what’s happening in our society right now,” said Parry Aftab, founder of the advocacy group Stop Cyberbullying. “Something new and terrible is occurring. Why do otherwise normal kids rape people and then brag about it online for cyberglory? These kids are setting off bombs online, and then they explode offline.”

Young people consider social communication to be extremely important in their lives,  “But the full implications of that technology also can be lost on them, and Audrie’s death is yet another cautionary tale about the perils of social media,” writes Mark Emmons of the MercuryNews.

Aftab agrees and says once technology becomes involved, young people can lose a sense of empathy and begin to see themselves as stars of their own reality TV show with the people who view the photos as their audience.

“It’s not just the plain, old, horrible crime of rape,” said Aftab, an Internet privacy and security expert. “The cyberworld has a different reality as far as kids are concerned. It’s not real life. For them, it’s a show and not a rape of someone their own age. It’s almost as if entertainment has taken over their humanity.”

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