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Loudoun County Claims Board Members ‘Were Not Aware’ of May High School Transgender Rape Until October Media Reports

Neil Campbell
Neil lives in Canada and writes about society and politics.
Published: October 14, 2021
A protestor at a Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) board meeting in Ashburn, Virginia on October 12, 2021. LCPS claims Board members were not aware of a violent rape against a ninth grade girl that occurred in May at Stone Bridge High School by a boy wearing a skirt, allegedly self-identifying as female, who entered a girl’s bathroom until the story broke in mainstream media in mid-October.
A protestor at a Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) board meeting in Ashburn, Virginia on October 12, 2021. LCPS claims Board members were not aware of a violent rape against a ninth grade girl that occurred in May at Stone Bridge High School by a boy wearing a skirt, allegedly self-identifying as female, who entered a girl’s bathroom until the story broke in mainstream media in mid-October. (Image: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) has released a statement claiming that members of the Board were not aware of a case involving the alleged violent rape of a 15-year-old girl in a high school bathroom by a male wearing a skirt in May until the story made headlines earlier this week. 

The story broke in The Daily Wire after Scott Smith, a father who was made an example of in mainstream media after being violently arrested at a LCPS meeting while publicly challenging the Board over his daughter’s rape, gave details of the story through his attorney.

The Wire paraphrased Smith as stating that on May 28 “a boy allegedly wearing a skirt entered a girls’ bathroom at nearby Stone Bridge High School, where he sexually assaulted Smith’s ninth-grade daughter,” and paraphrased attorney Elizabeth Lancaster, who represents Smith, as stating “that a boy was charged with two counts of forcible sodomy, one count of anal sodomy, and one count of forcible fellatio, related to an incident that day at that school.”

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On June 22, Smith publicly confronted the LCPS about his daughter’s rape. The article says, “Minutes before Smith’s arrest, the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) superintendent lectured the public that concerns about the transgender policy were misplaced because the school system had no record of any assault occurring in any school bathroom.”

The article says while Smith was speaking, a woman “wearing a rainbow heart shirt – a left wing community activist” told Smith he was telling balderdash. In response, Smith became agitated, was challenged by police securing the meeting, refused to comply, and was punched in the face by an officer, tackled to the ground, and arrested. 

According to a video posted on Twitter by Reuters correspondent Gabriella Borter, after the arrest, Sheriffs took the mic and declared the meeting an “unlawful assembly” before clearing the hall of all attendees on penalty of trespassing. 

After law enforcement emptied the chambers, “The board resumed its meeting at 6:30p.m., entering a closed session to meet with legal counsel and discuss negotiations involving a bid award,” according to Loudon Now.

In an Oct. 12 article by ABC affiliate 7News, the outlet reported that the attacker had offended again, “The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the same juvenile suspect was charged with a second sexual assault at another Loudoun County school after the May 28 incident.”

7News said the LCPS told them they “cannot comment on…what exactly happened in the first incident that didn’t cause the discipline to rise to the level of immediate expulsion.”

According to Fox5, local police did not even charge the boy for the May 28 rape until July 8, stating, “The Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office says the case was pushed back after DNA evidence didn’t arrive in time.”

“At that point, they discussed the matter with the victim’s family and recommended that the suspect wear and [sic] ankle monitor, and return to the classroom at a different school.”

Fox5 gave details on the second assault, “Then, on Oct. 6 at Broad Run High School in Ashburn, the same boy, now 15, allegedly forced a victim into an empty classroom, where he touched her inappropriately.”

The Sheriff’s office explained to Fox5 their reasoning for delaying charges in the original case, “The October 6, 2021 incident at Broad Run High School did not involve complex circumstances, the arrest was immediate, and the arrest was reported to the community as information released was unlikely to disclose the identity of the victim.” 

“However, the May 28, 2021 investigation was different in that the suspect and victim were familiar with each other, the investigation was complex, and a public announcement had the potential to identify a juvenile victim.”

School district gives contradictory statements

News7 and Fox5 both say the LCPS issued a statement to the media during the afternoon of Oct. 13, where the Board claimed they were unaware of a rape and a sexual assault resulting in criminal charges at a pair of their facilities, “Loudoun County Public Schools is aware of the media and social media reports concerning alleged sexual assaults at two of our high school campuses.”

The statement also said “we do want to clarify our investigative process.”

In the course of clarification, LCPS contradicted the “lecture” by Superintendent Scott Ziegler’s at the meeting where Smith was arrested noted by The Daily Wire, claiming that “the school system had no record of any assault occurring in any school bathroom” when it said, “Principals are legally required to report to the local law enforcement agency any act, including sexual assault, that may constitute a felony offense.”

“That process was followed with respect to these allegations. Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office was contacted within minutes of receiving the initial report on May 28.”

LCPS says it does not investigate criminal matters until law enforcement has completed their investigation and was asked by the Sheriff’s office to “not interview students until their investigation is concluded.”

The statement claims that 4.5 months later, LCPS Board members were still not aware of either the May 28 rape or the Oct. 6 sexual assault, “School Board members are typically not given details of disciplinary matters. The board may be obligated to consider long-term suspensions or expulsions and must ensure that students have not been deprived of due process.”

“Consequently, members of the Loudoun County School Board were not aware of the specific details of this incident until it was reported in media outlets earlier this week.”

Dissent labelled ‘domestic terrorism’

At the end of September, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) wrote a strongly worded six-page letter to Joe Biden asking the President to protect school personnel, executives, and teachers against “domestic terrorism.”

In the letter, the NSBA specifically characterized such events as “anti-mask proponents… inciting chaos during board meetings.”

In the process, it specifically cited the June 22 LCPS meeting where Smith was arrested, “In Virginia, an individual was arrested, another man was ticketed for trespassing, and a third person was hurt during a school board meeting discussion distinguishing current curricula from critical race theory and regarding equity issues.”

The NSBA asked Biden to deploy measures as powerful as the PATRIOT Act and to issue an Executive Order.

In response, on Oct. 4, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the Federal Bureau of Investigation to work in connection with United States attorneys across all 14,000 public school districts in the country to “facilitate the discussion of strategies for addressing threats against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff” while also opening “dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting, assessment, and response.”

Garland’s letter classified protests, like the ones frequent at LCPS Board meetings, as “a disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff who participate in the vital work of running our nation’s public schools.”