Loudoun County Superintended Indicted for Alleged Coverup in Student Rape Case Inquiry

Documents unsealed on Monday have revealed that a special grand jury in Loudon County, Virginia has indicted former superintendent of schools Scott Ziegler for his role in the handling of student sexual assault cases in the county’s schools.

According to LoudonNow, the jury has issued four indictments against two Loudon County Public Schools officials, with the indictments being unsealed on Monday by a county judge.

Ziegler has been indicted on one count of false publication, one count of prohibited conduct, and one count of penalizing an employee for a court appearance, all of which are misdemeanors.

Public Information Officer Wayde Byard was indicted on one count of felony perjury, which reportedly carries a maximum sentence of up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

The special grand jury, which was assembled in April by the Office of the Attorney General’s Office to investigate the handling of two sexual assaults carried out by the same student at two separate schools in 2021, released their report last week regarding the investigation.

Ziegler was fired the following day during a closed-door meeting with the Loudon County School Board.

In their report, the jury stated that “we believe that throughout this ordeal LCPS administrators were looking out for their own interests instead of the best interests of LCPS.”

On May 28, 2021, a girl was sexually assaulted in the women’s bathroom at Stone Bridge High School by a male student. This student was temporarily detained in July of 2021, but was released and transferred to another school within the district. Then on October 6, another sexual assault by that same student took place at Broad Run High School.

“We believe that throughout this ordeal LCPS administrators were looking out for their own interests instead of the best interests of LCPS. This invariably led to a stunning lack of openness, transparency, and accountability both to the public and the special grand jury. 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. They failed at every juncture,” the report said.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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