Former Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler GUILTY of Retaliation Against Teacher for Cooperating with Sexual Assault Grand Jury

A grand jury has found Scott Ziegler, a former superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools, guilty of firing teacher Erin Brooks for cooperating with a special grand jury convened to investigate two sexual assaults that occurred in his school district.

Scott Smith, the father of a girl who was sexually assaulted in the girls’ restroom by a boy wearing a skirt, was arrested after he showed up for a school board meeting accusing the board of covering up the crime against his daughter. Governor Glenn Youngkin recently pardoned Smith of his disorderly conduct conviction.

The governor authorized Attorney General Jason Miyares to convene a special grand jury last year to look into how the school board handled the investigation. The jury found that the board had mishandled the investigation but found no coordinated cover-up.

Ziegler fired a teacher who cooperated with the special grand jury. Before he was fired, a grand jury indicted him for using his position to retaliate against the teacher. From the Daily Wire:

Ziegler could face up to 12 months in jail, a $2,500 fine, or both. Sentencing in the trial will occur on January 4, 2024, Judge Douglas Fleming Jr. said. Ziegler’s victim, former special education teacher Erin Brooks, clasped her hands in front of her mouth in emotion after the verdict was read.

(Ziegler was wearing earrings and nail polish during the trial. Why?)

The former superintendent’s legal jeopardy isn’t over. After he’s sentenced in January 2024, he’ll go to trial for a misdemeanor charge for making the false statement that no sexual assaults had occurred in the school district’s restrooms.

The U.S Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in April opened an investigation into the school district’s mishandling of the two sexual assaults.

Photo credit: By Vahurzpu – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, link