GILROY—Gilroy Unified School District will not expel a Christopher High School senior who transferred here after he was involved in a sexual attack shared on social media and that lead to the victim’s suicide.
The district cannot discipline students based on “conduct or activities that occurred at a time when they were not students in the district,” GUSD Superintendent Debbie Flores said Wednesday in an emailed response to the Dispatch, noting the incident was “handled in a court of law.”
The parents of Audrie Pott, who took her life eight days after photos surfaced of her being abused while passed out at a party, urged the principals of Christopher and Saratoga High School, where the other two attend, in a Feb. 12 online petition on change.org to expel the three.
It would set an example that “slut shaming,” a term used in social media to describe the type of humiliation forced on victims like Pott, will not be tolerated, her parents wrote in the petition.
Student discipline decisions cannot be based on online petitions or surveys, according to Flores. The district’s ability to comment is limited by the fact they have legal obligations to respect privacy rights and must follow the state education code when disciplining students, according to Flores. She said she is prohibited from commenting on the process by which one of the students involved transferred to the Cougars’ campus after the incident.
The attackers pleaded guilty in juvenile court in January 2014 to felony digital penetration and possession of photographs of Pott. They served between 30 and 45 days in a juvenile detention facility, some on weekends.
The Pott family has filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against the three and alleges that Gilroy and Saratoga school officials failed to discipline the trio.
“Allowing these students to continue attending these schools sets and example to other students and athletes that this type of criminal behavior will be tolerated without regard for victims’ right or the safety of other students on campus,” reads the online petition.
When the petition on change.org was initially posted, the Pott family included the names and photographs the teenaged attackers. That same day, the website removed the information.
The Pott family then declared, via their Facebook page for a nonprofit they founded in Audrie’s honor, that their First Amendment rights were being violated and they would continue to attempt to publish the names and images of their daughter’s assailants.
The family argues that an increasing number of sex crimes, when committed by a juvenile, should be tried in adult court with proceedings open to the public—especially offenses committed against an unconscious victim.
Around 23,000 persons have endorsed the online call for expulsions.
