LCPS Sexual Assaults -- FAQ and Timeline

[jsteele]

I am creating this FAQ and Timeline to help clear up some of the confusion surrounding the two assaults in Loudoun County high schools. I am going to lock the thread because there is already one discussion thread on the topic. If anyone wants to add to or amend this post, please use the "report" button.

Some notable points that I have seen misstated in the discussion:

1) LCPS, the Sheriff's office, and Scott Smith (the father of the female victim at Stone Bridge) all say that the School Resource Officer who is a member of the Sheriff's office was immediately informed of the attack. The school did not fail to inform law enforcement.

2) At the time of the June 22 school board meeting at which Scott Smith was arrested, the Sheriff's investigation had not been completed and the suspect had not been charged. Therefore, LCPS had not yet started its own investigation of the case and was not in a position to comment on it.

3) While much attention has been paid to the fact that the perpetrator was wearing a skirt, this was not a case of someone taking advantage of transgender bathroom policies to gain entry to a girls' bathroom. At the time of the first assault, LCPS had not yet passed a policy with regard to transgender access to bathrooms. Moreover, as testified to by the victim in the first assault, the two students had an ongoing relationship which included meeting in bathrooms twice previously for consensual sex. They had agreed to meet in the bathroom on the day of the assault, but the girl testified that she only wanted to talk. She was a victim of all to common relationship violence that had nothing to do with transgender policies.

What happened on May 28?

A student at Stone Bridge High School reported to school officials that she had been sexually assaulted in a school bathroom by another student.

LCPS says that the sheriff's office was contacted "within minutes" of the initial report:

The sheriff’s office was contacted “within minutes of receiving the initial report on May 28,” Wayde Byard, public information officer for Loudoun County Public Schools, said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office says much the same thing:

...the sheriff’s office said one of its school resource officers was notified of the alleged assault the same day and an investigation was quickly started. Officials said it was conducted over several weeks by the sheriff’s office Special Victims Unit.

The involvement of the School Resource Officer (SRO) on the day of the incident was confirmed by Scott Smith, the father of the female student:

“The day of the incident, the [School Resource Officer] and the principal made it very clear that they had to do their investigation and that we weren’t to talk about anything. … The school counselor was in the room with my wife and daughter and told my daughter and my wife they’re not supposed to talk about anything,” Smith said.

The Sheriff's office launched a "2-month-long investigation" (it does not appear that the investigation was actually 2 months long)

In addition, LCPS Interim Superintendent Scott Ziegler sent an email to school board members telling them that "a female student alleged that a male student sexually assaulted her in the restroom."

Why didn't LCPS or the Sheriff inform the public about the assault?

LCPS says:

"Once a matter has been reported to law enforcement, LCPS does not begin its investigation until law enforcement advises LCPS that it has completed the criminal investigation. To maintain the integrity of the criminal investigation, law enforcement requested that LCPS not interview students until their investigation is concluded. LCPS has cooperated and continues to cooperate with law enforcement."

The Sheriff's office says:

"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."

What happened on June 22?

The Loudoun County Public School Board held a public meeting during which the comment period had to be cut short after descending into disorder. As the Loudoun Times describes it:

"Parents, students, staffers and other stakeholders had packed the boardroom to support and criticize the board on a range of topics, including a draft policy on transgender students’ rights and the school system’s alleged adoption of critical race theory. The vote to cut public comment short came after the crowd twice failed to acquiesce to Chairwoman Brenda Sheridan’s (Sterling District) requests to maintain order."

Also:

"In another incident, Scott T. Smith, 48, of Leesburg, was arrested after he reportedly acted in a disorderly manner and “displayed aggressive behavior towards another attendee,” Troxell said. When a deputy intervened, Smith reportedly continued to act disorderly and physically resisted arrest.

Smith was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was released from by a Loudoun County Magistrate on a personal recognizance bond, Troxell said Wednesday morning."

(Smith is the father of the student who reported being assaulted)


What happened on July 8?

On July 8, the accused attacker was was charged:

The teen, then 14, was charged with two counts of forcible sodomy for bathroom assault on July 8. Biberaj said DNA samples were submitted to the Department of Forensic Science for analysis.

What happened on October 6?

A female student at Broad Run High School reported to the SRO that a fellow student had "forced the victim into an empty classroom where he held her against her will and inappropriately touched her". The suspect was charged with sexual battery and abduction. This was announced by the Sheriff's office on October 7.

It was subsequently revealed that the suspect was the same individual who had been arrested in the Stone Bridge assault.


Why was the suspect released from detention and allowed to attend another school?

Prosecutors were allowed 21 days after the July 8 arrest to either adjudicate the case or release him. When the 21 days ended, prosecutors were still waiting on DNA analysis so the suspect was released with electronic monitoring:

“When 21 days was about to expire, we hadn’t gotten the DNA analysis — and it was necessary to have that to establish one of the charges. So, we had to either try it without the DNA and run the risk of not making that case, or ask the court for additional time,” Biberaj said.

A juvenile court judge “ordered electronic monitoring for the suspect, to be monitored by the probation office,” Biberaj said. “He was still under the terms of at electronic monitoring at the time” of the October incident.

How did all of this become public?

After the suspect in his daughter's assault was arrested for a second attack, Scott Smith went public with his story and accusing LCPS of a cover-up, unleashing a wave of media coverage.


When did School Board Members learn about the Stone Bridge assault?

Apparently, LCPS was not planning to inform the school board until court proceedings were complete. Therefore, board members learned about it from the media after Smith went public.

LCPS officials, in an effort to maintain the student suspect’s due process in the alleged May 28 sexual assault, said school board members were not made aware of the incident until it was reported in the media earlier this week.

Update: WTOP has obtained an email that contradicts the above statement. The May 28 email shows that LCPS Interim Superintendent Scott Ziegler informed school board members that "a female student alleged that a male student sexually assaulted her in the restroom."

Update: On October 25, a juvenile court judge found sufficient evidence to sustain charges against the teen charged in the assault. This is the equivalent of a guilty verdict in other courts. The judge said that she would hold off sentencing until a second case is decided in November.

Update: During the October 25 hearing, the victim testified that, "she had consensual sexual encounters with the defendant on two occasions in a girls’ bathroom at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn. On May 28, she said, the two arranged to meet again and the youth threw her to the floor and forced her to perform sex acts."

Update: On November 15, the teen pleaded no contest to a felony charge of abduction and a misdemeanor for sexual battery. He will be sentenced for both the Broad Run and Stone Bridge cases next month.