LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The father of the victim of a sexual assault that took place at Stone Bridge High School in Loudoun County in 2021 has been granted an absolute pardon after he was arrested and later convicted of disorderly conduct at a Loudoun County School Board meeting.
According to ABC7 in D.C., Scott Smith was arrested in August 2021 and later convicted of disorderly conduct after he showed up to a Loudoun County School Board meeting. Smith was initially charged with resisting arrest, but that charge was later dismissed.
According to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, a Stone Bridge student was arrested on July 8, 2021 and charged with two counts of forcible sodomy after an incident of sexual assault took place at the school. Smith is the father of the victim.
That same student was found responsible for another sexual assault incident that took place that October at Broad Run High School, where he had been enrolled after the first assault. The Smith family later sued the school board later that month, saying that the school board had failed to prevent the second incident.
“The sexual assault our daughter endured should never happen to any young girl, or any child, attending a public school. But because of indifference and negligence by Loudoun County Public Schools and the Loudoun School Board, it did,” Mr. and Mrs. Smith said in a statement. “And now, it has happened to another girl at another Loudoun County school at the hands of the very same assailant.”
A special grand jury report released in December 2022 accused school board leaders of practicing “intentional institutional amnesia” and perpetuating a ”culture of fear” to prevent details from the sexual assault from becoming public.
The grand jury claimed that then-superintendent Scott Siegler lied during a June 2021 board meeting, saying that he didn’t know about any reported assaults that had taken place at the school, after internal emails suggesting that was not the case were released. Ziegler was fired with a unanimous vote by the school board the day after the grand jury report was released.
Youngkin, who issued an executive order to launch an investigation into the assaults on his first day in office, announced the pardon on Sunday, Sept. 10.
“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 Youngkin. “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.”
