A prosecutor has been removed from a case involving a father convicted of disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice at a Virginia school board meeting.
Scott Smith had raised his voice in anger at a 2021 school board meeting over the sexual assault of his daughter by a boy, who was reportedly wearing a skirt, in a school gender-fluid bathroom.
Virginia Circuit Court Judge James Plowman earlier this month removed Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj from the case and has replaced her with a special prosecutor, WTOP reported.
In May 2021, Smith’s ninth-grade daughter was sexually assaulted in a bathroom at Stone Bridge High School in Loudoun County, Virginia. The boy was transferred to a different school where he allegedly sexually assaulted another student, The Blaze said.
The following month Smith attended a Loudoun County school board meeting where board members defended the school district’s gender-fluid bathroom policies — despite the anger of Smith and other community members.
As a result of threats against his family by an LGBT activist and the activist’s denial that Smith’s daughter had been raped, Smith responded loudly and sharply. Consequently, police grabbed him and wrestled him to the floor, and he ultimately was convicted of disorderly conduct.
In the wake of 48-year-old Smith’s appeal of the convictions, Judge Plowman questioned Biberaj’s impartiality in her dealings with Smith and replaced her with Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen.
Although ruling there was insufficient evidence to determine whether or not the Loudoun County prosecutor’s office should be removed or disqualified, Plowman acknowledged being persuaded by Smith’s lawyer, Bill Stanley, during a hearing related to the appeal.
“The concerns about the public confidence in the integrity of the prosecution as well as the Defendant’s concerns regarding the impartiality of the Commonwealth’s Attorney are sufficiently grounded,” Plowman ruled, according to WTOP. “As a result, the integrity of the Defendant’s due process rights is in jeopardy and must be protected.”
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Following Plowman’s order, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said that the court “‘has rightfully lost confidence’ in Biberaj” and that his office would be willing to handle the prosecution, Fox News reported.
Stanley told WTOP, “All [Smith] ever wanted to do at the school board meeting that night was to have its members be honest about what had happened to his daughter and protect all students from dangerous policies that put his daughter in harm’s way.”
In prosecuting Smith, Biberaj, who ran on a platform opposing mass incarceration, wanted him jailed and placed in an anger management program, according to the New York Post.
Smith’s attorney at that time, Elizabeth Lancaster, said it was “completely unheard of for the prosecutor to handle a misdemeanor.”
“It is incredibly unusual for a disorderly conduct case to even go forward,” Lancaster said. “The idea that they would actually be seeking jail time, I’d guess in my 15 years the number of times I’ve seen that happen would be zero.”
Indeed — in all the turmoil regarding the school districts and what some see as threats to school officials, is anyone noting the ordeal of Smith’s family in dealing with a daughter’s rape?
Lancaster said, “If someone would have sat and listened for 30 seconds to what Scott had to say, they would have been mortified and heartbroken,” according to The Daily Wire.
“A fair system of criminal justice that is void of both bias and political agendas is the cornerstone of a free society,” Smith told Fox News Digital. “From the beginning, Ms. Biberaj has sought to make an example of me for simply standing up to defend my daughter at the now infamous Loudoun County School Board meeting.
“Buta Biberaj has demonstrated a bias against me throughout the court proceedings, and she has continued to fan the flames of those who would label parents like me who stand in protection of their kids against dangerous school policies as being ‘domestic terrorists.’”
“Nothing could be further from the truth.”
The Loudoun County School district has been a center for controversy as parents have battled with the school board regarding transgenderism and critical race theory.
Another Washington D.C.-area Virginia school district in nearby Fairfax County has seen parents pitted against the school board over CRT and COVID restrictions. Their objections were met last fall with government cars in the parking lot of a school board meeting and a helicopter shining a light on parents as they attended.
School district controversies have prompted teacher resignations throughout the region.
Since Biberaj’s election in 2020, her office has seen a 67 percent drop in criminal indictments even though arrests have increased, WTTG reported.
Judge Plowman intervened in another case in which Biberaj is alleged to have downplayed the extent of the activities of a serial burglar while working on a plea deal. Plowman said Biberaj provided an “entirely inaccurate” assessment with “overt misrepresentation by omission,” according to the Blaze.
