The Daily Beast's Michael Daly points out another heartbreaking detail about the tragic life and death of Audrie Pott, the California teen who committed suicide last September after a group of boys she knew allegedly gang-raped her while she was unconscious and then posted about the attack online.
According to a bio on the family's blog, at age 11, Pott marched in President Barack Obama's 2008 inaugural day parade as a member of the only middle school color guard to participate in the event.
"The temperature was in the teen’s that day and the kids were not allowed to wear jackets or gloves, they carried on faultlessly and the President’s young daughters waved and cheered loudest for their group as all the other performers were so much older," the post reads.
Four years later, at age 15, Pott hanged herself after posting on Facebook that her life was ruined.
Pott's case picked up national media attention last week, in part for its alarming parallels to last month's Steubenville rape trial, in which two teenage boys were convicted of digitally raping a passed out teenage girl and then posting photos of the assault online.
In Canada, 17-year-old Rahtaeh Parsons hanged herself earlier this month, a year after a group of boys allegedly gang-raped her and posted about the attack online.
On Thursday, three teenage boys were arrested by a Northern California sheriff's office on charges of sexual battery in connection to Pott's assault. The investigation is ongoing.
No arrests have been made in the Canadian case.
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