Loudoun County students walk out of class in protest after sex assault
School system's handling of assault cases sparks outrage
A Virginia judge has booted liberal Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj from an appeal case citing "concerns" over "impartiality." The case involves a Virginia father who was arrested last year while speaking out at a school board meeting after his daughter was sexually assaulted in a public school bathroom by a male student.
"All that Scott Smith and his family have ever asked for is that the Loudoun County school system protect their daughter and treat them fairly; it has not," Bill Stanley, the attorney for Virginia father Scott Smith, said in a press release Monday provided to Fox News Digital.
"The Court’s Order today has corrected, in some measure, the injustice created by Ms. Biberaj’s bias against Mr. Smith, and the Court has restored his hope for a fair trial on the remaining charge against him in his quest to protect his beloved daughter. We are very grateful for the Court’s ruling," Stanley added.
Smith attended the school board meeting last year and railed against the school’s failure to protect his daughter after she was sexually assaulted in a girl’s bathroom in May 2021 by a male student at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn. The board meeting soon made national headlines - and became a focal point of the Virginia gubernatorial election last year - when video and images showed Smith being dragged out of the meeting by law enforcement officials, and the dad said the school board was engaging in a cover-up of the assault.
DOZENS OF LOUDOUN COUNTY STUDENTS STAGE WALKOUT OVER SEXUAL ASSAULT BY BOY IN GIRLS' BATHROOM
The unidentified male student was ultimately charged with sexual assault at two separate high schools and was found guilty earlier this year.
Smith was arrested and convicted of two misdemeanors following the school board meeting: disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice during the school board meeting. Circuit Court Judge James Plowman previously dismissed Smith’s count of obstruction of justice, and the Virginia dad is now trying to appeal the disorderly conduct count.
A Sept. 2 order from Judge Plowman detailed that he appointed a special prosecutor in Smith’s appeal, and booted Soros-backed prosecutor Biberaj and her office from the case.
"There is insufficient evidence to determine whether or not a direct conflict exists that would mandate removal and/or disqualification of the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office," Plowman’s order states.
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Plowman said that he found Smith’s lawyer persuasive during oral arguments and granted Smith's motion to recuse the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen will now handle the disorderly conduct count appeal.
"The concerns about the public confidence in the integrity of the prosecution as well as the Defendant’s concerns regarding the impartiality of the Commonwealth’s Attorney are sufficiently grounded. As a result, the integrity of the Defendant’s due process rights is in jeopardy and must be protected," Plowman wrote.
Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney Buta Biberaj (Loudoun County Virginia)
Smith welcomed the news, according to a press release from his attorney's office.
"A fair system of criminal justice that is void of both bias and political agendas is the cornerstone of a free society," Smith said in comment provided to Fox News Digital. "From the beginning, Ms. Biberaj has sought to make an example of me for simply standing up to defend my daughter at the now infamous Loudoun County School Board meeting. Buta Biberaj has demonstrated a bias against me throughout the court proceedings, and she has continued to fan the flames of those who would label parents like me who stand in protection of their kids against dangerous school policies as being ‘domestic terrorists.’"
"Nothing could be further from the truth."
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Biberaj’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter. She did express surprise over the removal of her office in comment to WTOP.
Loudoun County father Scott Smith joins Fox News' Laura Ingraham last year. (Fox news)
"I’m surprised by the court’s decision, since I was never given the opportunity to come back and have conversations about the disorderly conduct," Biberaj told the outlet.
Olsen, the longest-serving incumbent prosecutor in Northern Virginia and a Republican, said Judge Plowman had called him about the change, according to WTOP.
"Judge Plowman called me to ask if I was available," Olsen told WTOP. "As is often the case, a special prosecutor can be necessary because of potential conflict of interest."
Stanley told Fox News Digital on Monday afternoon that Smith has a "right for fair trial" and lamented the political nature of Biberaj’s office during the case.
"Believe it or not, prosecutors are supposed to be impartial. They’re supposed to look at the facts, apply the law and if so, then prosecute. This seemed to turn very political, very quickly, in the battle in Loudoun County, between this prosecutor who had been funded by George Soros," the attorney said, noting that Biberaj "took it upon herself to personally prosecute" the case.
People gather to protest different issues including the board’s handling of a sexual assault that happened in a school bathroom in May, vaccine mandates and critical race theory during a Loudoun County School Board meeting in Ashburn, Virginia, October 26, 2021. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)
This is not the first time Plowman has booted Biberaj’s office from a case. He removed the county’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Office from a serial burglary case in June for "deliberately misleading the Court and the public."
"The Commonwealth is deliberately misleading the Court, and the public, in an effort to ‘sell’ the plea agreement for some reason that has yet to be explained," Plowman said of that case, which involved a man charged with three misdemeanors for destruction of property and false identification, and two felonies for burglary.
"Biberaj and the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office is hereby REMOVED AND DISQUALIFIED from further prosecution as counsel of record in this matter," the judge wrote.
The state’s Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter to the chief judge shortly after that order, saying the court "has rightfully lost confidence" in Biberaj and her office. He added that his office was ready to assist and even prosecute the case "considering this unprecedented development," according to the letter which was provided to Fox News Digital in June.
Stanley told Fox News Digital that though the judge and the prosecutor were the same in Smith’s legal battle and the serial burglary case, "these are two different cases" and "one has nothing to do with the other."
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Plowman is a Republican who previously served as the Loudoun commonwealth’s attorney before Biberaj’s election in 2019.
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