Virginia’s governor has pardoned a man who unleashed a tirade of profanities at at a woman at a school board meeting after his daughter was sexually assaulted in a school bathroom and threatened to “kick the teeth in” of deputies who restrained him during his screaming protest.
Scott Smith accused school board officials of “covering up” his daughter’s assault at a June 2021 meeting when they said they were investigating. The teen suspect in the assault was eventually charged and convicted of forcible sodomy, despite Smith’s insistence of a a cover-up, The Associated Press reported.
Smith was charged and convicted of disorderly conduct, and his case became a cause celebre for Youngkin’s gubernatorial campaign, particularly when rumors spread that the suspect may have been wearing a skirt at the time of the assault. After his election, Youngkin rolled back protections for transgender youth in his state, under the guise of “parental rights.”
“Scott Smith is a dedicated parent who’s faced unwarranted charges in his pursuit to protect his daughter,” Youngkin said Sunday in a press release. “Scott’s commitment to his child despite the immense obstacles is emblematic of the parental empowerment movement that started in Virginia.”
“Mr. Smith did what any father would do, what any parent wou;d do, which is stand up for their child,” the governor said. “This was gross miscarriage of justice.”
Smith, in a statement released Sunday, said he intended to keep hounding Loudoun County Public Schools “for parents and their children.”
“What happened to me cannot ever happen to another American again,” Smith said an interview with WJLA.
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A grand jury investigated the school system’s investigation of two sexual assaults in Loudon County schools and returned indictments against the superintendent and the district spokesman for mishandling the investigation, saying the second assault could have been avoided. But it found no evidence that the administration or board engaged in any kind of cover up, Loudon Now reported.
Superintendent Scott Ziegler was fired after the indictments and is set to go on trial later this month on misdemeanor charges of false publication, prohibited conduct, and penalizing an employee for a court appearance,. Spokesman Wayde Byard was acquitted of a perjury charge earlier this year.
Smith was convicted of two misdemeanors and sentenced to 10 days in jail, suspended, contingent on a year’s good behavior.
After his conviction, Smith criticized Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares, who also used his case heavily in his campaign. Smith said neither of them contacted him after winning their elections, according to NBC Washington.
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[FILE – Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)]
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