Former Loudoun County superintendent indicted amid probe into sexual-assault response

A judge unsealed Monday indictments against former Loudoun County Public Schools superintendent Scott Ziegler and a school spokesperson in the latest fallout from the investigation into the district’s handling of two 2021 campus sexual assaults.

The special grand jury returned three indictments against Mr. Ziegler, who was fired last week by the school board, including one count of false publication; one count of prohibited conduct, and one count of penalizing an employee for a court appearance. All counts are misdemeanors.

In addition, LCPS public information officer Wayde Byard was indicted on one count of felony perjury.

The first indictment against Mr. Ziegler was returned June 14, and the following two indictments on Sept. 28. The indictment against Mr. Byard was also issued Sept. 28.

“The Office of the Attorney General will be prosecuting these cases and has no further comment on this matter,” said Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares’ office in a statement.

The special grand jury, empaneled in April by Mr. Miyares, found that school district administrators “failed at every juncture” in their response to sexual assaults last year against two female students at two different high schools by the same assailant, also a student.

The report, which was unsealed Dec. 5, also accused Mr. Ziegler of lying at a June 2021 board meeting by saying “we don’t have any record of assaults occurring in our restrooms.”

The first attack occurred May 28, 2021, at a girls’ restroom at Stone Bridge High School, and was reported the same day by the victim. The assailant was transferred to Broad Run High School, where he assaulted another girl in an empty classroom on Oct. 6, 2021.

“It is our considered judgment that the October 6, 2021, sexual assault at BRHS should never have occurred,” the 92-page report said. “Had any one of a number of individuals across a variety of entities spoken up or realized a serious problem was brewing regarding earlier incidents at BRHS then the sexual assault most likely would not have occurred. But nobody did.”

Last week, Loudoun County School Board Chair Jeff Morse & Vice Chair Ian Serotkin bragged “the Special Grand Jury’s extensive investigation found no evidence of criminal conduct … & not a single indictment was filed.”

4 indictments against 2 LCPS employees were just unsealed.

— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) December 12, 2022

The grand jury’s report did not mention criminal indictments, and board members were apparently unaware of them initially.

In a Dec. 5 statement, Loudoun County School Board Chair Jeff Morse and Vice Chair Ian Serotkin issued a statement saying they were “pleased that the Special Grand Jury’s extensive investigation found no evidence of criminal conduct on the part of anyone within LCPS, and not a single indictment was filed.”

The board voted unanimously and without comment at its Dec. 6 meeting to fire Mr. Ziegler immediately.