Gov. Youngkin: Loudon County school board officials tried to cover up sexual assaults
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin discusses how Loudon County officials mishandled sexual assaults in schools and an investigation into potential discrimination at Thomas Jefferson High School on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'
The Loudoun County Joint Board of Supervisors and School Board committee held a meeting Monday to discuss protocols on the handling of future sexual assault cases about a week after the U.S. Department of Education launched an investigation into the northern Virginia district mired by controversy.
"I don’t believe that we have a systemic issue in our schools with sexual assault," supervisor Juli Briskman said at the meeting Monday. "Charges and arrests came very late in my opinion and communication failed."
The agenda listed the purpose of the meeting as "to provide the Joint Board of Supervisors and School Board Committee (Joint Committee) with information regarding Information about the School Resource Officer (SRO) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) and Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS), with specific information pertaining to investigations into sexual assaults in schools."
That included required training to investigate sexual assault claims, collaboration with non-profits or victims’ assistance programs to support victims, chain of command for SRO investigations, protocol between LCPS/ LCSO for investigating sexual assaults, funding and staffing needed for LCSO to investigate sexual assault cases appropriately, and interview protocols for underage sexual assault victims.
Loudon County Schools supervisor Juli Briskman at Monday's meeting related to the district handling of future sexual assault cases. (FOX 5 DC)
The northern Virginia district drew national attention after an LCPS father, during a June 2021 school board meeting, accused the district of covering up his daughter's sexual assault after a biological boy wearing a skirt raped her in the girls' bathroom in May of that year. The father, Scott Smith, claimed the district had attempted to cover up his daughter's assault to push its controversial transgender bathroom policy that had sparked parental protests at district school board meetings. The policy had not yet been implemented at the time of the assault.
The suspect then transferred to another school in the district and assaulted another girl, and faced charges in both cases.
Last week, it was reported that the U.S. Department of Education is investigating Loudoun County Public Schools over accusations that the district failed to adequately address reports of sexual assault at Stone Bridge and Broad Run high schools.
Loudoun County Joint Board of Supervisors and School Board committee meeting on sexual assault protocols. (FOX 5 DC)
Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler was fired by the school board in December in response to a grand jury report on the district's handling of the two sexual assaults committed by the same student. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin was critical of Loudon County Public Schools while running for office and issued an executive order shortly after being sworn in green lighting an investigation by Attorney General Jason S. Miyares into the assaults. Miyares impaneled a grand jury in April 2022, resulting in the indictments of Ziegler and LCPS spokesman Wayde Belmont Byard, who allegedly lied to the grand jury about when he initially learned of the first sexual assault.
Last month, the Virginia Attorney General’s Office motioned for the court to issue a subpoena ordering interim Superintendent Daniel W. Smith to provide a report related to the investigation Ziegler publicly, the Loudon Times-Mirror reported. The school board earlier this year denied requests from the public to release the report, citing attorney-client privilege.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, right, told Loudon County father Scott Smith, "Every parent in America stood with you," during an event to introduce the Parents Bill of Rights at the U.S. Capitol on March 1, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
"LCPS as an organization tends to avoid managing difficult situations by not addressing them fully," a special grand jury report stated, according to FOX 5. "This has not served them or our community well, and the culture needs to change. Stronger leadership would address problems head-on instead of letting them snowball."
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Related to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, the report also stated school officials testified that multiple investigators called it an "iffy case" and a "shaky case."
"The recommendations that came out from the special grand jury, the eight of them, had no specific recommendations," Lt. Colonel Christopher Sawyer said at Monday's meeting. "Ultimately, those recommendations that came through the report were all based on Loudoun County Public Schools."
Fox News' Landon Mion contributed to this report.
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