The Patriot Post® · Loudoun County Grand Jury's Sordid Findings

Loudoun County has been ground zero for the parental rights in education movement. A coalition of motivated and frustrated parents garnered so much steam that it elected the Republican candidate, Glenn Youngkin, in Virginia’s last Democrat-leaning gubernatorial election. It was all ignited by the outrageous cover-ups perpetrated by Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) and the Loudoun County School Board (LCSB).

LCPS became infamous for the callous and downright horrific way in which it decided to handle the rape case of a young teenage girl by a male student. This brutal attack occurred in a “gender-neutral bathroom,” and the young man who committed the act was known to wear skirts and dresses to school.

The young girl’s father, local plumber Scott Smith, came to get his child after initially being led to believe that she was a victim of a beating. When he arrived, he was told initially that he wasn’t permitted to enter the school building. When Smith was eventually allowed in, he was promptly escorted back out again because when he found out that his daughter was raped, not merely beaten up, he was of course livid. His angry protests were loud enough that the principal felt the necessity to email the parents explaining that Smith’s outbursts were harmless but that students could seek counseling if they were traumatized.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, LCPS decided to handle the rape in-house and move the perpetrator to another school in the county, where he proceeded to harass and intimidate his classmates until finally kidnapping and sexually assaulting another female student at his new school, this time in an empty classroom.

The Loudoun County School Board was fully aware of this male student’s predatory behavior and yet continued to obfuscate, misdirect, or justify its actions. Superintendent Scott Ziegler initially denied that the school board had any knowledge of the rape. Email evidence later emerged that the board was aware the day the rape happened. LCPS and LCSB both claim they did what they did in order to protect the victim, but clearly they did what they did to support a left-wing ideological agenda and to protect an underaged sexual predator.

It’s been over a year since this bombshell story broke, and officials are now having to answer to a grand jury. And guess what? This story is much more malicious and horrifying than the initial harrowing tale. The grand jury made public a report that illustrated one teacher’s aide was concerned about the boy’s behavior in class. He had been displaying serious red flags leading up to the rape in the bathroom.

The male student “has come into class more than once with his arm around a girl’s neck,” the teacher’s aide in question warned her department chair. “I have caught him sitting on other girls’ laps several times. … If this kind of reckless behavior persists, I wouldn’t want to be held accountable if someone should get hurt.” In the hierarchy of a high school, a teacher’s aide is low man on the totem pole. Her concerns were dismissed by the higher-ups and, in fact, the aide was accused of having bad motives for saying anything.

On the day of the bathroom sexual assault — in fact, as the assault was happening — a teaching assistant walked in to the bathroom, saw two pairs of shoes in one stall, but did nothing and said nothing.

Then there were the hearings for the special grand jury. True to form, while LCPS and LCSB officials made public statements that they would cooperate with the investigation, behind closed doors they were decisively not. They were ultimately more interested in covering their own interests than in letting the truth come out.

The attorneys that were hired to represent the school district and school board were a perfect case in point. According to the grand jury report: “Division counsel’s mere silent presence in a crowded room was enough for LCSB’s lawyer to claim the attorney-client privilege and instruct the witnesses not to answer… LCSB’s counsel also inappropriately used hand signals and other methods to communicate with witnesses while they were testifying.”

This would all be considered witness tampering, but the most blatant case of this was when a teacher felt the need to hire her own representation because an LCPS attorney wanted her testimony silenced as it would look bad for the schools. She was not the only one to seek separate representation. It is through these individuals’ bravery that many of the newer details have even come to light. The attorney who was engaging in witness tampering will not face any consequences, as there is no law in Virginia preventing it. He exploited the loophole to devastating effect.

Since no indictments were issued, LCPS spokesman Wayde Byard issued a statement that claimed victory, stating, “We are pleased that the Special Grand Jury’s extensive investigation found no evidence of criminal conduct on the part of anyone within LCPS, and not a single indictment was filed as a result of this lengthy process.”

That statement rings pretty hollow because heads have started to roll. LCPS Chief of Staff Mark Smith has been fired. LCSB member/activist Beth Barts resigned — she was a big advocate for gender-neutral bathrooms and was using her position to misuse her social media account to allegedly bully parents. LCSB President Scott Ziegler has also been fired for his lies and mishandling of the rapes.

One can only hope that justice continues to happen for these girls and that more parents’ eyes are wide open to the nature of their public school officials and school board members, some of whom have made it very clear that their leftist agenda is far more important than the students.