In a move applauded by parents and free speech advocates, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin issued a pardon on Sunday for the Loudoun County father who was ejected and charged with disorderly conduct after speaking out about his daughter’s assault in a school bathroom during a school board meeting.
Scott Smith was arrested for obstruction of justice and disorderly behavior in June 2021.
A “transgender” student had sexually assaulted Smith’s daughter in the girl’s bathroom in May 2021, which the superintendent allegedly concealed. The same student was accused of two additional sexual assaults at other schools in the county.
The transgender reportedly wore a dress when he raped the girl in the lady’s bathroom at Stone Bridge High School. The school district’s policy allows male students to use the girl’s bathroom and vice versa.
An uncovered email that was sent by the county’s superintendent – Scott Ziegler – proves that the Loudoun County Public School Board was informed of the alleged rape of a student that took place in a high school bathroom on May 28th, 2021, but chose to bury the information instead of taking appropriate measures.
The email, which was obtained by WTOP-TV, clearly notified the entire school board that an incident was being investigated by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office because a female student had filed a report with them which alleged that she was sexually assaulted in a school restroom by a male student.
From Scott Ziegler’s email to the school board:
Good Afternoon, Board Members, The purpose of this email is to provide you with information regarding an incident that occurred at Stone Bridge HS. This afternoon a female student alleged that a male student sexually assaulted her in the restroom.
The LCSO [Sheriff’s Office] is investigating the matter. Secondary to the assault investigation, the female student’s parent responded to the school and caused a disruption by using threatening and profane language that was overheard by staff and students. Additional law enforcement units responded to the school to assist with the parent. The school’s counseling team is providing services for students who witnessed the parent’s behavior. The alleged victim is being tended to by LCSO.
Not only did the school officials cover up the incident to ‘prevent controversy over their transgender policy,’ but they also arrested and prosecuted the girl’s father after he tried to sound the alarm at a school board meeting.
On June 22, Scott Smith joined hundreds of other outraged parents at a Loudoun County school board meeting to speak out on behalf of his daughter. The meeting was eventually deemed an “unlawful assembly” by the board members, and Smith was one of two people who were arrested that day.
Smith was attempting to tell the board that his 14-year-old daughter had been raped in the girl’s bathroom by a boy wearing a skirt, but when another person at the meeting – a local leftist activist – interrupted and told him that she didn’t believe his daughter, he shouted back at her. That’s when a police officer grabbed him by the arm and arrested him.
The incident went viral, but his daughter’s story remained buried.
The Loudoun County sheriff’s office declared the school board meeting an unlawful assembly. Everyone told to get out or will be trespassing. Two arrests made #CriticalRaceTheory pic.twitter.com/23Cojtczvy
— Gabriella Borter (@gabriellaborter) June 22, 2021
Two arrests made at the Loudoun County, Virginia school board meeting after it was declared an unlawful assembly and some parents here to protest against critical race theory and a transgender policy refused to leave right away #CriticalRaceTheory pic.twitter.com/dsZDrqJ0Gp
— Gabriella Borter (@gabriellaborter) June 22, 2021
After hearing part of Smith’s cut-off testimony, the county’s superintendent – Scott Ziegler – claimed that the outrage over new transgender policies was “unreasonable” because the school district had “no record of a sexual assault ever taking place in a school bathroom.”
A judge in Loudoun County rejected a motion to dismiss disorderly conduct charges against Scott Smith in June 2023.
Soros-funded Judge Howe Brown ruled that they had enough evidence to prosecute him for disorderly conduct by saying the word “bitch” to a leftist activist who was reportedly taunting him over the rape of his daughter.
Smith was denied his right to a jury because the charge was a misdemeanor. However, with the assistance of Republican state Sen. Bill Stanley as his attorney, he appealed the conviction and successfully dropped the obstruction charges last year. The prosecution led by Eric Olson fought to uphold the disorderly behavior charges, leading to the ruling by Judge Brown.
Judge Howe Brown set a trial date for September 25, signaling that a jury will ultimately determine Smith’s fate.
On Sunday, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin granted an absolute pardon to Scott Smith.
On his first day in office, Governor Youngkin issued an executive order to investigate sexual assaults within Loudoun County Public Schools. The Attorney General’s subsequent investigation uncovered a cover-up, leading to the termination of Superintendent Ziegler.
“Scott Smith is a dedicated parent who’s faced unwarranted charges in his pursuit to protect his daughter. Scott’s commitment to his child despite the immense obstacles is emblematic of the parental empowerment movement that started in Virginia,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin in a statement.
“In Virginia, parents matter and my resolve to empower parents in unwavering. A parent’s fundamental right to be involved in their child’s education, upbringing, and care should never be undermined by bureaucracy, school divisions or the state. I am pleased to grant Scott Smith this pardon and help him and his family put this injustice behind them once and for all,” he added.
WATCH:
BREAKING: Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin @GovernorVA announces a pardon for the father at center of Loudoun County assault case. #FoxNewsSunday pic.twitter.com/Ens0gq6z9z
— Fox News Sunday (@FoxNewsSunday) September 10, 2023