The three 16-year-old boys accused of sexually battering classmate Audrie Pott, 15, and then circulating photos of the incident have been released from juvenile hall in Northern California and are now on home detention.
It was announced on Wednesday that the teenagers, who face charges of sexual battery and distribution of child pornography, are now on electronically monitored house arrest.
Pott's family and attorneys claim the Saratoga girl was shamed and humiliated by the boys' actions which led to her suicide eight days after the alleged assault at a Labor Day weekend house party last year.
Shocking: Audrie Pott's family has filed a lawsuit against the boys who allegedly assaulted the 15-year-old. The boys were released to house arrest on Wednesday
The Mercury News reported that the movements of the three boys will be limited and that they will have to petition to leave their parents' homes.
Pott family attorney Robert Allard alleges that the three suspects took her upstairs to a bedroom during the party where she drank a combination of vodka and Gatorade and passed out.
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The boys allegedly assaulted her, drew and wrote on her, and took a photo of an intimate body part, Allard said.
Photos were allegedly shared with other students at Saratoga High School. At a news conference last week Pott's stepmother read Facebook updates the girl wrote after the party.
'My life is ruined...I am in hell...The whole school knows...My life is over...' the 15-year-old posted.
Classmates: Pott attended Saratoga High School along with two of her alleged attackers
Last week school officials said they could not expel the boys - a statement that was quickly disputed by the lawyer for the girl's family.
Saratoga schools Superintendent Bob Mistele said the boys could not be expelled because the house party where 15-year-old Audrie Pott was allegedly assaulted was not a school-related event.
'School districts cannot suspend or expel someone from school based solely on alleged behavior,' he said.
But he said officials did try to take some action. Two of the boys were on the football team, and the coach barred them from participating.
Tragic: Audrie Pott, 15, was allegedly sexually assaulted by three teenage boys at a party last fall. She committed suicide eight days after she was assaulted
'While education is a fundamental right, participation in sports is a privilege,' Mistele explained.
The boys were charged in the fall but remained in school seven months until April 11, when sheriff's deputies took them out of their classrooms and arrested them.
Attorneys representing the teens, whose names have not been released because of their ages, did not return repeated calls seeking comment last Wednesday.
The Pott family filed a lawsuit against the boys and their families last Monday, and has also filed a claim against the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District, alleging that administrators were slack in responding to bullying against Audrie.
Allard said the district failed to document a meeting the Pott family had with administrators about bullying several months before Audrie's death. And he said a school official announced her death on school loudspeakers before her family realized that the girl, who had spent two days on life support, had passed away.
In a written statement responding to questions from The Associated Press and other media, Mistele confirmed that administrators had met with the Pott family before her death, but he said 'the issue of bullying was not the subject covered in those conversations.'
He also said Audrie's stepmother, Lisa Pott, gave the principal permission to announce to the student body that she had died.
'It is a matter of policy and common decency that the school would never announce a student's death without first consulting with the family,' he said.
Mistele said that after Audrie's death, a small group of students came to the office to tell an assistant principal that students were talking about an incident at a party involving the girl, and that some photographs were being shared among students.
Court battle: Sheila Pott, right, mother of Audrie Pott answers questions during a news conference last week about the family's lawsuit
He said school officials contacted the campus resource officer but it remains 'very unclear' whether photographs of the alleged sexual assault were circulated among students on campus.
Allard responded to the school district's statement last Wednesday describing his reaction and that of the Pott family as 'one of disgust and dismay.'
'Even to this day, it is clear to us that the district is more interested in protecting its image than in taking responsibility for its lack of actions in Audrie's case,' the statement said.
Allard said Audrie saw people huddled around a phone and believed her photo was being shared. And the school newspaper reported Sunday that several students whom they did not name thought that about 10 students had seen the photo.
Shock: Larry Pott, father of Audrie Pott, said the family is outraged by the school's refusal to expel the three boys, even after they were arrested
But Mistele said that along with law enforcement investigators, school officials 'have been unable to verify the extent to which any photographic images may have been shared on campus or the Internet before or after her suicide that may have contributed to her feeling embarrassed or harassed.'
Mistele said the boys' alleged misconduct now warrants a suspension or placement in independent study to avoid 'a disruption or distraction on campus.' He said the students' parents have agreed with administrators that they won't go back to campus until the case is resolved, and if they are found guilty, Mistele said the teens could be expelled.