Lawyer: Blame Parents for Rape Victim's Suicide

Audrie Pott, 15, killed herself in 2012 after she was allegedly sexually assaulted by three boys at a party, who allegedly wrote crude messages on her body and then, according to her family, distributed a picture of her around school. But a lawyer for the teen boys says her parents, Larry and Sheila Pott, "set in motion" the events leading to her suicide years prior to the incident, the San Jose Mercury News reports. They were aware of, or should have been aware of, their daughter's "long-standing and serious emotional problems before her suicide and they should have sought professional help," say the court papers filed by the lawyer.

The papers, which also make vague claims about how Sheila's behavior hurt her daughter and also mention a fight Audrie had with two friends just before her death, were filed Dec. 27 in response to the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Potts. The suit names the three boys who have been charged in the case as well as a teenage girl who, the Potts claim, prodded the boys to take the photos and write on Audrie's body. Click for more on the case. (More Audrie Pott stories.)