The former school’s superintendent of Loudoun County, Virginia, was found guilty Friday for the retaliatory firing of a special education school teacher, a misdemeanor charge related to a larger scandal that engulfed the district over how it handled a pair of sexual assaults.
Scott Ziegler was found not guilty of a lesser charge, punishing an employee for attending court. He faces up to a year in jail and is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 4.
“Justice has finally been served in Loudoun County,” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said in a statement. “Nearly two years ago, Loudoun County Public Schools and the Loudoun County School Board were thrown into the public spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
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Former Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Ziegler was found guilty of a misdemeanor for using his position to firing a teacher. (Loudoun County Public Schools)
“One of the casualties of their neglect and mismanagement led to the retaliatory firing of a dedicated and caring school teacher,” he added. “Today, my office brought a measure of justice for Erin Brooks. The Office of the Attorney General will always be a voice for victims, and we’re grateful for the jury’s verdict.”
The case against Ziegler stemmed from Brooks’ testimony before a special grand jury that was looking into how the district handled a pair of alleged sexual assaults committed by the same high school student in 2021.
Ziegler decided not to renew Brooks’ contract for the 2021-22 school year despite her testimony, which did not directly relate to the sexual assaults, WTOP-TV reported. She reportedly testified about a 10-year-old student who allegedly groped her.
The grand jury issued a report in December, and Ziegler was fired. Fox News Digital has reached out to the school district.
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Parents and educators sparred over transgender student policy 8040 at the Loudoun County Public Schools Board meeting, October 11. (Fox News Digital)
The Northern Virginia district drew national attention after a father accused it at a June 2021 school board meeting of covering up his daughter’s sexual assault in which a biological boy wearing a skirt raped her in the girls’ bathroom. The student transferred to another school in the district and assaulted another girl, and faced charges in both cases.
The father alleged the district had attempted to cover up his daughter’s assault to advance its transgender policy, which had been subject to parental protests at LCPS school board meetings.
At that school board meeting, Ziegler said that “the predator transgender student or person simply does not exist,” and that “we don’t have any record of assaults occurring in our restrooms.”
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However, in an email dated May 28, 2021, the same day as the initial assault, the superintendent alerted school board members that an assault had been reported. The special grand report said the district was looking out for its own interests instead of its students and that the school system “failed at every juncture.”
Ziegler still faces a misdemeanor charge for the statements he made at the board meeting.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
