'Liars!': Father of LCPS sex assault victim slams board's vote against release of report
ASHBURN, Va. (7News) — Parents in attendance stormed out of the room Tuesday night, screaming, after the Loudoun County School Board voted against releasing their internal investigation into how they handled the two sexual assault cases at two different high schools carried out by the same student in 2021.
Scott Smith, the father of one of the victims of the cases at the center of this investigation, was among a handful of parents who scolded school board members while leaving the chamber.
"You should you f---ing scumbags. F---ing liars! What are you covering up? What," Smith said.
READ ALSO: Loudoun County School Board votes not to release of school sex assault report
In May 2021, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office reported a sexual assault happened in a bathroom at Stone Bridge High School. Just months later, the sheriff's office confirmed the same boy accused of the May sexual assault had also been accused of another sexual assault at Broad Run High School in October.
The boy accused of these crimes has since been convicted of sexual assault in both cases.
In November 2021, the school district hired a law firm to conduct an internal investigation into their handling of these cases.
The law firm finished their investigation in January 2022, more than a year ago, but had not released the report, citing attorney-client privilege.
"How can you send a child to school tomorrow with this school board in charge of your child's safety? How can you do that? How can a parent with any intelligence send your child to school tomorrow? Mine won't be in school tomorrow. Absolutely not," Smith said. "Absolute hell."
The vote to approve release of the report failed 3-to-6.
The following school board members voted in favor:
- Denise Corbo
- Tiffany Polifko
- John Beatty
"Given the choice between advocating for children and families or advocating for the system, I will always choose children and families," Polifko said.
These school members voted against releasing the report:
- Atoosa Reeser
- Brenda Sheridan
- Jeff Morse
- Harris Mahedavi
- Ian Serotkin
- Erika Ogedegbe
"Being open and transparent is incredibly important, but so is the rights of our students and staff to be able to communicate with legal counsel without it being made public," Serotkin said.
Over the past year, at least five of the nine school board members had indicated they would vote in favor of releasing the internal investigation's report, including during campaigns to get elected: Polifko, Beatty, Morse, Reeser, and Ogedegbe.
On Tuesday, Morse, Reeser, and Ogedegbe flipped their votes.
"I think it's important to consider how much we can rely on a report that was produced under the oversight of a superintendent we terminated," Reeser said in a statement. "Accordingly, I expect tonight's vote will be one that puts the best interest of the students and the schools before politics, regardless how each of us votes. My ask of my colleagues is to continue a unified and collective effort to look at what has happened from top-down and bottom-up, share those facts publicly, and continue to take actions as necessary."
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares initiated a special grand jury investigation into the school district's handling of these sexual assault cases in April 2022.
In December 2022, that report was released, finding the district lacked accountability and transparency throughout the process of these cases.
Among the recommendations in the special grand jury report was one that said the school board should limit when they use attorney-client privilege. However, the board had cited attorney-client privilege as the reason why they have not released their internal investigation, and Tuesday's vote allowed the board to continue declining waving this privilege.
