The more we learn about the Loudoun School District, the more we find that they have a history of hiding sexual assaults. They have not reported sexual assaults for years, even though we know for a fact that they occurred. In 2018 three football players held down a younger player and inserted different articles in him. The newspapers carried the story, yet when it came time to make the report to the state, it was nowhere to be found.
After The Daily Wire raised the discrepancy with the Virginia Department of Education, VDOE spokesman Charles Pyle said:
“VDOE is reviewing the discipline, crime and violence data submissions of Loudoun County Public Schools and is in communication with LCPS to determine whether the division’s reporting is accurate and whether the division is in compliance with state and federal law.”
That law could have major implications for a superintendent and a principal if indeed the assaults weren’t reported. Scott Smith’s daughter was sexually assaulted on May 28th of this year, but on June 22nd Superintendent Scott Ziegler told the public, that as far as he knew there were no sexual assaults committed in any of the schools in the district. Either he is lying or the principal never notified him, in which case one of the two could be in hot water.
The Daily Wire asked LCPS:
“Has Stone Bridge ever reported the May alleged sexual assault in any statistics or made anyone aware of it?”
Director of Communications Joan Sahlgren replied:
“Any information related to student information is confidential under state and federal laws regarding student privacy.”
But, that is a false statement. In fact, the law requires you to report the crime. State law actually requires statistics on assaults and other incidents in schools to be reported to the public.
The issue with missing sex assault statistics in Loudoun is not limited to the latest case, raising the prospect that untold numbers of sexual assaults and other infractions have gone unreported.
In October 2018, in a case that was widely reported by the media at the time, three football players at Tuscorara High were arrested and charged with sexual assault. A source told local media that it’s believed a younger player was “held down by teammates who inserted objects into the victim” in a locker room. A spokesperson for LCPS said at the time that “the case will be subject to disciplinary action.” The annual report for Tuscorara that year reported zero instances of sexual offenses against students.
LCPS provided no response at all to The Daily Wire’s question about the reason for the “zero” figures despite having two days to do so.