‘They Failed at Every Juncture’: Loudoun County Mishandled Bathroom Sex Assault, Grand Jury Finds
Loudoun County Public Schools was delinquent in its handling of the multiple high-profile sexual-assaults that occurred in the district last year, a special grand jury found, shedding further light on the events that helped inspire a massive parental-rights uprising in Virginia.
Administrators in the district pursued their own interest instead of that of their students, according to a report released by the grand jury on Monday.
Between May and October of 2021, the same male high-school student allegedly sexually assaulted two females in the LCPS district. The first incident happened in the girl’s bathroom at Stone Bridge High School (SBHS), where the “gender-fluid” perpetrator, who was wearing a skirt at the time, allegedly sodomized a ninth-grade girl.
LCPS allows transgender students to access bathrooms and locker rooms that align with “their consistently asserted gender identity” under a policy that was officially adopted shortly after the bathroom assault allegedly occurred. When the victim’s father challenged the Loudoun school board about the policy, arguing during a public meeting that it would lead to the further victimization of female students, he was told there was no record of a sexual assault having occurred in the bathroom and was ultimately ushered out of the meeting by police.
The assailant in the bathroom attack was then transferred to Broad Run High School (BRHS), also in the LCPS district, where he allegedly sexually abused another female student. According to the grand jury report, he “abducted” the unassuming girl out of a hallway and forced her into an empty classroom, where he nearly suffocated and sexually assaulted her.
“There were several decision points for senior LCPS administrators, up to and including the superintendent, to be transparent and step in and alter the sequence of events leading up to the October 6, 2021 BRHS sexual assault,” the report reads. “They failed at every juncture.”
Even after SBHS informed BRHS that an accused sexual abuser would be joining its student body, school administrators did not probe the matter further, the report said. The grand jury determined the second scandal “could have, and should have, been prevented.” After the male student’s enrollment at BRHS, there were many warning signs that teachers and administrators should have flagged.
For example, on September 9, 2021 in English class, the student grabbed a female’s shoulder “really hard” and asked her whether she ever posted nude photos online. The incident was reported as a possible Title IX violation. While the superintendent and chief of staff “expressed concern” after learning of the situation from multiple people, there was “no evidence of any discernible action.”
The district “bears the brunt of the blame” for the abuse at BRHS, the report said, noting also a “breakdown of communication between multiple parties” including the county sheriff’s office, the court services unit, and the county’s attorney’s office.
Counsel representing the district attempted to interfere in the grand-jury investigation, which was mandated by Governor Glenn Youngkin. LCPS filed a motion for an injunction in May, claiming the investigation violated the constitution of Virginia and invaded the privacy of students and faculty. LCPS’ complaint asking to shut down the probe and subsequent prosecutions ultimately failed.
The report found that there was no coordinated cover-up between LCPS administrators and school-board members, who were in fact “deprived” of information regarding the sexual-assault cases until after the October 6 incident. They reportedly learned from public reporting, not the superintendent, that the assailant was the same individual in both incidents. However, there was an observable “lack of cooperation” from the district and the majority of school board members during the investigation, the report said.
The perpetrator in the bathroom rape was found guilty of sexual assault by a juvenile court judge last October.
