There are calls for the father of a girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted in a Virginia school bathroom to be tagged as a "domestic terrorist" after the distraught parent attacked officials during a local school board meeting, which disregarded his daughter's ordeal.
Scott Smith, 48, has been convicted of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest for a disturbance during a June 22 public meeting of the Loudoun County School Board, where he was tackled to the ground by arresting officers before being dragged outside, Fox News reported.
A video of the incident reveals the moment the cops showed up to stop Smith, who lashed out after those in attendance heard from the district superintendent that there weren't any reported assaults occurring in the school restrooms.
Another parent-activist would also approach his wife to discard their claims that their child is a rape victim.
"She looked me dead in the face and said, ‘That’s not what happened,'" Smith recalled. "That struck me. How do you know what happened when you don't even know me?"
Such a declaration appeared to discredit his daughter's alleged assault, sending the man fuming mad.
Smith's daughter was reportedly attacked by a boy at Stone Bridge High School on May 28 in a school bathroom. The incident has since been confirmed by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
A 2-month-long probe resulted in the arrest of a 14-year-old boy, who was taken into custody on July 8 and charged with two counts of forcible sodomy. The father subsequently saw the case being turned over to the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office as the proceedings continued. However, the records remain sealed as the case involves a juvenile.
In a statement on Tuesday, the school district clarified it made immediate action and phoned the police as soon as they received the report of sexual assault on May 28 but noted that the sensitive incident was not disclosed to school board members at the time of the June meeting.
Meanwhile, in a letter addressed to the White House, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) said the incident was one of the key examples proving the nation's "public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat."
The group insisted in the Sept. 29 letter that such “heinous actions” were “equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes," calling for immediate action on the matter, according to the New York Post.
Their pleas to the White House came five days before Attorney General Merrick Garland called on the FBI to investigate the apparent threat, which Smith said was clearly “wrong.”
“That’s scary, that our government will weaponize themselves against parents and they’re using my video across the nation to spread fear,” he said.
In August, Smith was sentenced to 10 days in jail, which has been suspended contingent on a year of good behavior. The father is appealing the verdict and will go to court in March 2022.
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