Loudoun4All Calls for an Unbiased, Transparent Investigation into the Handling of the Sexual Assaults

Loudun4All believes that Loudoun citizens deserve a transparent and unbiased investigation into the handling of two sexual assaults at Loudoun County Public School so that we can implement solid policies for the future. The continued politicization of the attacks has made it impossible for the citizens of Loudoun to get real answers as too many people are more concerned with using the attacks to further their political agendas rather than with trying to understand the actual facts and what can be done to address the issues and bring about real, meaningful change.  

We do not believe that the investigation from Attorney General Miyares will be transparent or unbiased. Miyares has clearly demonstrated his foregone conclusions about the investigation and significant bias. LCPS has conducted an investigation, but has not released any results. We call on LCPS to provide transparency to the fullest extent of the law as to their results.

Loudoun4All supports Loudoun Delegates Suhas Subramanyam and Jennifer Boysko in condemning the politicization of the investigation of these tragic attacks and in calling for an independent investigation.

• Biased Executive Order

  On Jan 15th, the day of his inauguration, Youngkin signed Executive Order #4 that directs AG Miyares to investigate LCPS in regards to the handling of two sexual assaults. The EO specifies that, ”The Loudoun County School Board and school administrators withheld key details and knowingly lied to parents about the assaults.” The wording of this order makes it very clear that Youngkin is not looking for an investigation, but has already drawn his own conclusions. Youngkin’s very wording, to “investigate wrongdoing in Loudoun County,” rather than alleged wrongdoing indicates that he has already made a forgone conclusion as to the outcome. 

• Misleading the Public on the Role the School Board Plays

  In claiming that the School Board misled parents, this EO also ignores the School Boards’ very limited role in the handling of assault cases. The board is intentionally given only the most basic information so that they can remain unbiased should there be a need for an appeal to the board. The school board only knew that an attack had occurred, they were not privy to the details of the case (See https://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Ziegler-feature.jpg for the notification they received), so the claims that the School Board intentionally misled the public have no validity.
  

• Failure to include Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office

  Youngkin has directed that the investigation by Miyares look at the “wrongdoing” of the schools, but does not include the role that LCSO played in handling the assaults. Given that Loudoun Sheriff Mike Chapman was appointed to Youngkin’s transition team, endorsed Youngkin, and ran ads attacking McAullife, the failure to include the role of the LCSO in the handling of the assaults has the semblance of corruption.
  

• Firing of Non Political Appointees

  The first day he took office, Miyares fired the university counsels for both The University of Virginia and George Mason University. These are non-political appointments that are assigned by the AG’s office. Tim Heaphy, who was fired from UVA, was serving on the Congressional January 6 inquiry panel. Monique Miles, the deputy attorney general under youngkin resigned recently after tweets surfaced where she called the January 6th attackers “Patriots.”
  

• Quid Pro Quo for Loudoun Investigation

  The same day counsel for UVA was fired by Miyares, an assistant to AG Miyares, Carlton J. Davis, wrote to Klarke Kilgore, Chief of External Affairs and Policy, asking for the reward of a new post if the “the AG looks good” when the investigation into Loudoun concludes. “When the Loudoun County investigation wraps up in a few months, assuming it is done well and the AG looks good (as is the hope/expectation on my end), as mentioned a couple times, I’d be very interested in working in the University Counsel’s office.” Instead of pointing out how inappropriate this request is, Kilgore responded, “We will absolutely keep you in mind.”

Given the bias demonstrated by both Governor Youngkin and the Attorney General’s office, and that their investigation already appears to have a foregone conclusion, Loudoun4All calls for the State Legislature to take over and appoint an unbiased, bi-partisan 3rd party team to investigate the entire process by which the assaults were handled, including the roles of all the organizations that were involved. We need transparency and fairness that puts students’ safety first, and looks at how policy can be improved for the future. We need this investigation to be conducted with the goal of making these findings public and visible. Without an unbiased investigation that can be acted on to change policy, how can the public come to trust that our school system, sheriff's office, and courts are working together to keep our children safe? Loudoun4All has started a petition for citizens of our county to speak up and demand change: https://chng.it/Xm5BL2kxPJ