Grand Jury releases list of recommendations for Scott Co. Public Schools following misconduct investigation

SCOTT COUNTY, Va. (WJHL) — An incident surrounding leaked nude photographs of a Scott County Public Schools (SCPS) employee following a social media extortion scam led to a months-long investigation by police agencies and a Scott County Grand Jury into alleged sexual misconduct in the school system, a statement from the county’s Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office said.

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That investigation, which began in July 2023, found no “sufficient evidence to bring forth recommendation of criminal charges”, but did result in a list of recommendations for the school system, which includes modernizing its complaint and reporting system from sometimes handwritten and verbal notes to digitized records.

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The investigation began after a social media account identifying as “Bernard Lancaster” of Colorado posted explicit photos and videos of a SCPS employee on July 20, 2023. The account claimed to be the grandfather of a 15-year-old female student and claimed the SCPS employee had attempted to “solicit sexual acts” from the student, according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s statement.

The statement said the Scott County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia State Police (VSP) immediately launched a criminal investigation to verify and identify the specifics of the allegations against the SCPS employee.

The investigation uncovered that the SCPS employee “apparently was having an online relationship with what appeared to be an adult female. As a part of this apparent relationship, [the employee] created videos and photos to send to this adult female to express his interest in her,” the Commonwealth’s Attorney statement reads.

Investigators discovered the account posing as an adult female was actually a group of individuals located in a foreign country, who threatened to release the images unless the SCPS employee paid them. The Commonwealth’s Attorney did not specify the amount of money demanded.

Once the SCPS employee was unable to continue to meet the group’s demands, the statement said the group then released the explicit images on Facebook alongside the false allegations under the “Bernard Lancaster” account.

The statement said the investigation found no evidence that the SCPS employee tried to “solicit or maintain an inappropriate relationship with any current Scott County Public School students.”

What Happened Next

The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s statement said almost in tandem with the accusatory post regarding the SCPS employee on Facebook, a separate post was made by a former Scott County Public Schools student. That post garnered more than one thousand comments, some of which were “multiple allegations of misconduct, including alleged sexual misconduct, between teachers/employees and underage students.”

According to the statement, the sheriff’s office and VSP investigated each of these claims made against SCPS staff members, identifying and speaking with, or attempting to speak with, over thirty individuals who allegedly knew of specific instances of misconduct in the SCPS system.

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Along with the VSP’s and sheriff’s office’s investigations, Scott County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kyle Kilgore empaneled a Special Grand Jury to assist in investigating alleged misconduct within the school district.

Over the course of five months, the Grand Jury, consisting of ten Scott County residents, met monthly to receive updates from the sheriff’s office’s investigators as well as to hear testimonies and evidence from more than one dozen witnesses. A report released from the Grand Jury said members viewed over forty exhibits introduced during the investigation.

Special Grand Jury’s Findings

The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said that despite numerous allegations, the Grand Jury and law enforcement were unable to “corroborate prosecutable criminal activity toward a cooperative identifiable victim.”

The Special Grand Jury filed and released a report “given the intense local public interest” in the events leading up to the investigation. The report from the Grand Jury said its members felt it was appropriate to release findings, as well as a list of recommendations for the school system, to “hopefully reassure the public of the safety of our children in school.”

In the report, the Grand Jury noted that many of the allegations made over social media in July 2023 were reported to have occurred several years prior.

This not only made it difficult to identify and locate potential witnesses and victims with firsthand knowledge to corroborate testimonies; if probable cause could be established related to an allegation, the Grand Jury report states, “the statute of limitations has passed, barring criminal prosecution.”

Furthermore, the Grandy Jury report states when the investigation did identify a specific victim, that victim “expressed an unwillingness to proceed with criminal prosecution at this stage in the victim’s life.”

Grand Jury’s Recommendations for Scott County Public Schools

Although the investigations by the sheriff’s office, VSP and the Special Grand Jury didn’t result in any criminal charges filed, the Grand Jury did release a list of recommendations for Scott County Public Schools going forward.

The Grand Jury suggested that SCPS review and revise its internal policies regarding mandatory reporting, as well as training not only for staff but students as well.

In the list of recommendations, the Grand Jury describes the school system’s attitude toward mandatory reporting as “laissez-faire.” The jury’s report said one key suggestion for the school system is to enact a policy that would switch all reporting, complaints or otherwise, to an already existing electronic system to “eliminate any liability issues, confusion or mistakes.”

The Grand Jury’s full list of recommendations for the Scott County School System following this investigation can be found below:

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