The U.S. Department of Education is launching an investigation into the handling of two sexual assault cases by the Loudoun County, Virginia, school system.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights stated in a letter to the America First Legal Foundation that it is opening a Title IX investigation and will determine “whether the School Division is failing to respond as required by Title IX to notice of sexual assault in School Division high schools.”
The AFL, a conservative group, filed a complaint with the office on Jan. 18.
The investigation will focus on whether the Loudoun County Public Schools system failed to properly respond to two sexual assaults by the same student in 2021.
In May of that year, a male student sexually assaulted a girl in a handicapped bathroom stall at Stone Bridge High School.
The student was then transferred to Broad Run High School, even after he was arrested for the previous assault. In October of 2021, the same student then assaulted another girl in an empty classroom.
The male student was convicted of both assaults and has been ordered to attend a locked residential treatment facility until he turns 18.
A report from a special Virginia grand jury convened to look into the school system’s response, revealed several red flags. Before the first assault, a teacher’s assistant emailed another teacher and her department head earlier that month, saying the student has a problem with “keeping his hands to himself” and added, “I wouldn’t want to be held accountable if someone should get hurt.”
In addition, the student’s grandmother called him a “sociopath” who “does not care about consequences.”
The grand jury report concluded there was no cover-up of the assaults but stated administrators “failed at every juncture” and the school system exhibited “a stunning lack of openness.”
These cases lead to the firing of Superintendent Scott Ziegler, who now faces misdemeanor criminal charges.
“It is paramount that our public schools enact and enforce policies to keep students safe while at school. A special grand jury report demonstrated that Loudoun County Public Schools woefully failed in that respect, in part because of the utter lack of a competent Title IX process. We are pleased that the Department of Education has opened an investigation into this dereliction of duty,” said Ian Prior, the senior adviser for America First Legal, in a release.
In a statement provided to WTOP, a spokesman said the school system had received a notice of complaint from the Office for Civil Rights “and will duly assist OCR in this process.” The statement went on to say, “The staff and administration of LCPS remain committed to making student safety and welfare the Division’s highest priority. As this investigation relates to matters concerning student privacy, we will not comment further at this time.”
