1) It wasn't me.
2) The other(usually a female, but not always) consented.
If the prosecution has proof that shows a sex act took place between the accuser and the defendant, the defense is reduced to only number 2.
Since there are cases where the accuser consents, later regrets and makes a false accusation, and the defendant has to be allowed to defend him(her)self, yeah, it gets unpleasant.
She was dating both of the boys with whom she was sleeping with, but as she was only a freshman there is always a chance at filing statutory charges as they were a few years older.
The girls on the other hand called her a slut to her face and online. So, we should now outlaw this type of language?
Other reports have come out that she also had problems in school in Ireland. This does not speak to a stabile young girl, so I’m not surprised the defense is trying to seek a bit more background.
None of what has happened here is out of the norm for high schools, the difference is this troubled girl took her own life.
I have a sophomore in high school, who has seen girls get labeled as a “slut”, with todays norms of sexuality this usually involves having multiple partners. Generally these are girls who act out sexually for attention. As Phoebe was a freshman, it is I think still quite unusual for her to have had two sexual partners. There may of course have been more, these two boys are being charged because they are a few grades older.
At this time, we do not have enough information to prosecute these kids.