It looks like they are going for the "I know I was the last person with her, so they're going to blame me, so as a kid, I just decided to get my friends to give me an alibi when I didn't really need one" defense.
That's what they are going for. It's not going to help the father's career as an attorney that he helped craft a lie.
Croes did not look on the level to me. What about the suggestion from the newspaper reporter that he was looking for reward $ by giving a tip? Why would the tip be the cover story the kids first told? That really doesn't make since.