Teen perpetrator of sexual assault in girls' bathroom ordered to register as sex offender
The teenage perpetrator of multiple sexual assaults at two high schools has been ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and undergo rehabilitation until he reaches adulthood.
Reports that two girls were assaulted at two separate high schools in Loudoun County, Virginia, sparked outrage among parents in the Washington, D.C.-area school district and across the United States. The Daily Wire first reported on the sexual assault of a teenage girl committed at the hands of “a boy allegedly wearing a skirt” in a girls’ bathroom at Stone Bridge High School on May 28.
Shortly thereafter, news broke that the perpetrator of the May 28 attack assaulted another girl at Broad Run High School. The perpetrator of the two assaults, whose name has not been released to the public, learned his fate Wednesday. According to NBC News' Washington affiliate, the student was ordered to remain in a “locked residential treatment facility, where he will undergo rehabilitation and therapy until his 18th birthday.”
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Additionally, “he is ordered to have no contact with the victims nor their families and he also has to register as a sex offender.” Pamela Brooks, the judge overseeing the case, expressed particular concern about the results of the boy’s psychological evaluation, noting that this was the first occasion where she ever ordered a minor to register as a sex offender.
Scott Smith, the father of the Stone Bridge High School victim, reacted to the development on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Wednesday. He indicated that while his family was “relieved” that “we’re able to put one felony assault behind us,” the legal battles to address the wrongs done to his daughter have only just begun.
“Unfortunately, our daughter was physically assaulted the first week of school when she returned this year and that one was mishandled as well,” he said. “Ninety days later, we finally got charges and that court case starts next week. It’s a felony malicious wounding.”
Smith did not elaborate on the second sexual assault. The first sexual assault of his daughter took place as Loudoun County Public Schools was considering implementing a policy that would allow trans-identified students to use bathrooms designated for the opposite sex. The proposed enactment of such a policy generated outrage from the community, which came to a head at a contentious June 22 school board meeting.
At the meeting, Superintendent of Schools Scott Ziegler ensured concerned parents that “To my knowledge, we don’t have any records of assaults occurring in our restrooms.” The transgender bathroom policy was approved in August of last year, and the second sexual assault, which took place at Broad Run High School, occurred after its implementation.
While Ziegler insisted at the June 22 school board meeting that no sexual assaults had occurred in bathrooms or locker rooms within the school district, Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman wrote in a letter to the superintendent that “you knew of the alleged sexual offense the day it occurred.”
Chapman pointed to an email made public by local news outlet WTOP revealing that Ziegler wrote an email to school board members informing them that “a female student alleged that a male student sexually assaulted her in the restroom” earlier that day.
Critics allege that the school district engaged in a cover-up by sending the perpetrator to another school and not informing the public of what happened in an effort to avoid derailing the transgender bathroom policy. The incidents in Loudoun County occurred as parents and community members across the U.S. have confronted their local school boards to express outrage about sexually explicit material available in school libraries and included in the curriculum.
The sexual assaults in Loudoun County played a role in Virginia’s statewide elections this past fall, with five former attorneys general of the state calling on Attorney General Mark Herring to investigate the Loudoun County School Board over its handling of the sexual assaults. The Republican who ran against Herring in last year’s general election, Jason Miyares, also joined the chorus of those seeking an investigation into the school board.
Miyares defeated Herring in the election as Republicans won the gubernatorial election as well as the lieutenant governor’s seat. Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe received criticism for addressing the outrage over sexually explicit curriculum and critical race theory in public schools at a debate with Republican opponent Glenn Youngkin by declaring “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
