Glenn Youngkin pardons father arrested at school board meeting after his daughter was sexually assaulted

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault and are in need of support, please call RAINN's National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline (800-656-4673). You can also chat with someone online at https://hotline.rainn.org/online.

WASHINGTON — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin granted a pardon on Friday to a man convicted in 2021 on charges related to an incident at a school board meeting that took place after his daughter was sexually assaulted in a bathroom at her high school.

Scott Smith was charged with obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct after his confrontation in June 2021 with a community member who allegedly “threatened to spread false and malicious information” about Smith’s business “with the intent to damage his reputation,” according to the pardon.

The incident took place at a Loudoun County School Board meeting about protections for transgender students. Smith is also accused of threatening the police deputies who dragged him away from the event.

Youngkin's pardon said Smith was "publicly and falsely accused of 'domestic terrorism' and 'hate crimes' for attempting to advocate for his daughter."

While the obstruction of justice conviction was dismissed on appeal, Smith was set to go to trial later this month for the disorderly conduct conviction.

"Scott Smith is a dedicated parent who’s faced unwarranted charges in his pursuit to protect his daughter... I am pleased to grant Scott Smith this pardon and help him and his family put this injustice behind them once and for all,” Youngkin said in a statement.

Smith, thanking Youngkin in a statement for the pardon, wrote that that he "did not intend to speak and did not sign up to speak at the meeting." But he was concerned about what the school board was considering "especially as it pertains to the safety of not only my daughter, but also the children of other parents as well."

"When the School Board abruptly ended the meeting, I was confronted and taunted by activists supporting the School Board's bathroom policy," Smith said.

"Despite being subjected to this unprovoked confrontation and threats made against me and my family, I was unreasonably restrained by law enforcement, completely violating my constitutional rights."

The case became attached to national debates over the rights of transgender students at schools after reports spread that Smith's daughter was assaulted by a boy wearing a skirt.

“I wasn’t even concerned about the fact that it was a boy wearing a skirt in the girls’ bathroom at the time,” Smith previously told the New York Times. “I’m focused on the fact that my daughter just got raped.”

The teenager convicted of assaulting Smith's daughter was later found guilty of forcibly touching a classmate at another school he was allowed to attend while awaiting his trial in juvenile court.

The northern Virginia school board eventually fired its superintendent after a special grand jury found the official lied about the first sexual assault. The jury also issued a report accusing the school district of repeatedly mishandling the assaults.

Contributing: Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Youngkin pardons Scott Smith, whose daughter was sexually assaulted