LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — Editor's Note: The video above is an interview with the attorney for an LCPS spokesperson who also faces charges.
The former Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) Superintendent has filed a motion to have a case dismissed months after he and another school official were indicted by a special grand jury.
Former superintendent Dr. Scott Ziegler and LCPS spokesperson Wayde Byard were indicted in 2022 following a months-long investigation into the school system's handling of two sexual assaults on campus. Ziegler was indicted for one count of misdemeanor false publication, one count of misdemeanor prohibited conduct and one count of misdemeanor penalizing an employee for a court appearance.
On Thursday, WUSA9 obtained court documents showing Ziegler's counsel requested the court dismiss the indictment against him. The filing claims that the Attorney General was given the power to investigate LCPS due to an executive order from Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Ziegler's counsel claims no prior governor, nor any Attorney General has ever asserted the authority now claimed in these cases.
"The law in Virginia is clear: the governor had no authority to issue EO 4, which renders the entire investigation driven by the Attorney General to be without any lawful authority or jurisdiction," the court documents read. "The Attorney General had no authority to seek impaneling of the Special Grand 2 Jury; the Loudoun County Circuit Court had no jurisdiction to impanel the Special Grand Jury; and the Special Grand Jury had no authority or jurisdiction to return any indictments. Accordingly, the indictments should be dismissed."
The investigation of the Loudoun County School Board was done through Executive Order Number 4 signed by Youngkin when he took office in January.
The investigation looked into two 2021 sexual assaults that happened at two different schools by the same student. The unidentified 15-year-old student was transferred to another school within the same district while he was being investigated for a reported attack at the first school. Authorities eventually arrested the same student for sexual battery and abduction of another classmate at the second school.
That student has since been sentenced to complete a sex offender in-patient program and was placed on supervised probation until his 18th birthday, according to the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney.
In the motion, it said, "Virginia law does not permit the Attorney General, at the Governor's request, to seize the tools of criminal law enforcement and direct them against disfavored persons."
Ziegler's legal team said the report by the special grand jury that scrutinized LCPS presented a "curated version of events."
The report only intensified concerns and demand for the school board to fire Ziegler.
In the 24-page motion, Ziegler's attorney pushes back on accusations he tried hide the sexual assaults, and calls out parent group Fight For Schools (FFS). It said FFS accused LCPS and Ziegler of covering up the May 2021 assault and lied to parents to promote the passage of a policy on transgender students.
FFS released a statement that said it was never about the policy but what school officials already knew on the sexual assaults:
“Fight for Schools never blamed the sexual assault on the existence of Policy 8040, as it had not even advanced out of committee by then. Rather, our position has always been that the sexual assault in a girls’ bathroom at Stone Bridge was covered up by Ziegler and LCPS because that information, if known to the public, would be relevant to the safety concerns expressed about then-proposed Policy 8040 and could imperil its passage. An email discovered by the special grand jury and cited in its report confirms that LCPS viewed the assault as being related to Policy 8040."
In a statement sent to WUSA9 about his allegations, Ziegler said:
“I am disappointed that an Attorney General-controlled, secret, and one-sided process—which never once sought my testimony—has made such false and irresponsible accusations. It appears clear to me that this process was and is aimed at advancing a certain political agenda. For example, they tout some relationship between the school bathroom policy for transgender students and the May 28, 2021 sexual assault at Stone Bridge High School. However, the SGJ report itself acknowledged the truth that contradicts that finding: the assault occurred during an encounter in which two students—neither of whom identified as transgender—met in a school bathroom. I was saddened to learn of the tragic events of May 28 and October 6; however, neither had anything to do with schools providing basic accommodations for transgender students.
I have many thoughts on the specific events surrounding this investigation, as well as the larger tumult in Loudoun County—driven by partisan forces—which have divided our community. But for now, I will not comment further, except to say that I will vigorously defend myself. I look forward to a time when the truth is reported to the public.”