Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) announced on Sunday that he was pardoning a father who had been arrested at a school board meeting.
Youngkin explained during an interview on FOX News Sunday with host Shannon Bream – which airs originally on FOX Broadcast – that he was pardoning Scott Smith, who had been arrested in 2021 after demanding answers at a Loudoun County School Board meeting about his daughter’s sexual assault.
Smith’s daughter was raped in the bathroom by a boy wearing a skirt who had been allowed to use the girl’s restroom.
“We are in contact with him. In fact, I spoke with Mr. Smith on Friday,” Youngkin told Bream in response to her asking if he was corresponding with Smith. “And, I had the privilege of telling Mr. Smith that I would pardon him.”
I’m pleased to grant Scott Smith a pardon. He is a dedicated Loudoun County father who was wrongfully prosecuted and convicted for standing up for his daughter at a 2021 Loudoun County School Board meeting after she was sexually assaulted at school. https://t.co/6dWf88U2b1 pic.twitter.com/WCEvciUfzT
— Governor Glenn Youngkin (@GovernorVA) September 10, 2023
“We righted a wrong. He should have never been prosecuted here,” Youngkin explained. “This was a dad standing up for his daughter. Just to remind everyone, his daughter had been sexually assaulted in the bathroom of a school and no one was doing anything about it.”
Smith was charged with obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct.
The boy was charged with two counts of forcible sodomy, one count of anal sodomy, and one count of forcible fellatio in relation to the May 28 incident with Smith’s daughter.
While the school claimed to not have any knowledge of any prior incidents, this turned out to be false. The boy who had raped Smith’s daughter had been charged with sexually assaulting another girl months earlier.
As a gubernatorial candidate, Youngkin called for “an immediate investigation” surrounding the Loudoun County School Board, citing them as being “negligent.”
“It took the election of a new governor, me, and my directive to our Attorney General Jason Miyares, to investigate this,” Youngkin added. “To uncover the fact that the superintendent had in fact covered it up. He was immediately terminated when the final report from the grand jury was issued.”