Loudoun County Public Schools under investigation over its handling of sexual assault cases, Department of Education reveals

The Department of Education Office of Civil Rights revealed Wednesday that it has launched an investigation into Loudoun County Public Schools over its handling of two sexual assault cases perpetrated by a biological boy who claimed to be transgender, according to a Department of Education letter sent to America First Legal.

The first sexual assault case, which occurred in May 2021, involved a skirt-wearing biological boy accused and convicted of raping a 15-year-old female student in the school's girls' bathroom.

The biological boy, who self-identified as "non-binary," was removed from the school and transferred to another school in the Loudoun County district.

In October 2021, the student was again accused and later convicted of sexually assaulting another female student.

In January, America First Legal sent a letter urging the Education Department to launch an investigation into the district's mishandling of the sexual assault cases following a December grand jury report that found the district displayed a "stunning lack of openness, transparency and accountability, both to the public and to the special grand jury."

"LCPS administrators were looking out for their own interests instead of the best interests of LCPS," the grand jury report stated.

America First Legal alleged that LCPS violated Title IX of the Higher Education Act of 1972 and that school officials failed to take proper action following the sexual assault cases.

"It is paramount that our public schools enact and enforce policies to keep students safe while at school," stated Ian Prior, America First Legal senior adviser. "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."

Former LCPS Superintendent Scott Ziegler was fired, then indicted on three misdemeanor charges by a Loudoun County special grand jury in December for his involvement in the mishandling of the sexual assault cases.

"You have wasted enough of our time and our money and you have shown that you put politics and agendas above the best interest of our children, putting them in harm's way," stated Elicia Brand-Leudemann, a Loudoun County parent, during a school board meeting. "More indictments will come down, and you are all compromised."

"All children are deserving of compassion, and some are not more 'equal' than others. Accommodations can be made without sacrificing the needs of one student over another," Suparna Dutta, a Fairfax County mother and former member of the Virginia Board of Education, told TheBlaze. "Young lives have been traumatized by policies in school districts when the schools prioritized radical gender ideology over school safety. Parents were left in the dark and the superintendent lied about the sexual assaults in Loudoun County. I hope the USDOE OCR does a thorough investigation and justice is served."

Dutta was previously appointed to the Board of Education by Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin but removed earlier this year by Virginia Senate Democrats after she spoke out against political indoctrination in the classroom.

LCPS did not respond to a request for comment, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.

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