Distraught Father Accuses Yet Another Virginia School Board Of Covering Up A Sexual Assault
It is hard to watch. Jeffrey Darr, the father of a 15-year-old Prince William County school student, recently stood in front of a Virginia School Board, pleading for answers, ones that were not to be given. Darr was in front of the Prince William Country school board, voice breaking, wanting to know why the boy who sexually assaulted his daughter was given only a one-day suspension.
It is hard to watch. Jeffrey Darr, the father of a 15-year-old Prince William County school student, recently stood in front of a Virginia School Board, pleading for answers, ones that were not to be given. Darr was in front of the Prince William Country school board, voice breaking, wanting to know why the boy who sexually assaulted his daughter was given only a one-day suspension.
When Darr approached the podium, he was asking for answers. He wanted to know from the board and Superintendent LaTanya McDade the policies and procedures the school and the administration take when a sexual assault occurs. After he asked his question, he stood in silence as the school board responded by refusing to speak to him. Darr stood a bit longer, perplexed.
The school board finally spoke telling Darr that they don’t conduct a “back and forth”, but they were happy to take his comments by email or private appointment so as to work with him concerning the matter of his daughter out of the public eye. It should be noted, the Virginia School Board meeting allows for parents or concerned citizens to take three minutes to express their issues without a response from the board. Darr, though, wasn’t having any of it.
Maintaining his composure a bit longer, Darr pressed by asking where he could find the rules and regulations concerning sexual assault. Unfortunately, school board security arrived, ready to escort Darr out of the room. That’s when things got a little tense from Darr’s point of view as he asked again, then stated he “wanted the public to know.” The response he got from this was jaw-dropping. The unnamed chairperson decided to drop this bit of wisdom on Darr saying, “We won’t be answering you, but you can certainly keep asking.”
It doesn’t get any better as Darr breaks down while explaining that his daughter was told that because the sexual assault was “above the clothes, it’s not sexual assault.” He was looking for the Virginia school district definition of sexual assault. Darr should be commended for his restraint as he began to point fingers at the entire school board, accusing them of letting the sexual assault claim slide.
Darr’s confrontation with the Prince William County school board can be seen below…
Darr’s claim that his daughter was sexually assaulted in school is not the first time a Virginia School Board had to listen to these accusations. A fire was lit last October at a Loudoun County School Board meeting when furious parents protested and demanded the resignation of the entire board over their knowledge and subsequent cover-up of a sexual assault that happened to a girl in the female bathroom of Stone Bridge High School.
It was during that other volatile meeting that the father, Scott Smith, of the victim began to express what happened to his daughter in the bathroom. He was then approached by another parent who had been antagonizing Smith’s wife and was told that what he described “did not happen.” Chaos ensued. Smith found himself on the ground to clapping parents, detained by the sheriffs on the scene, and finally arrested, being branded a domestic terrorist.
Not that matters could get any worse for Smith or his family, but at the time school Superintendent Scott Ziegler showed little remorse for the Smith Family, denying that the assault even took place and saying, “Time magazine in 2016 called that a red herring…we’ve heard it several times tonight from our public speakers but the predator transgender student or person simply does not exist.” The reason he was speaking about transgender students is that the accused was a 15-year-old male who was identifying as a female. Smith’s claim, that his daughter was attacked by a boy “wearing a skirt”, did not go over well with many parents, nor Loudoun County, who has the policy to allow transgender students to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.
It should be noted, after the initial assault against Smith’s daughter, the accused was simply transferred to another school. There, he assaulted another female student. The 15-year-old male, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was found guilty of the first sexual assault claim and is being tried for the second.
The question now one that many parents have now are – what are they supposed to do? Many find themselves wringing their hands as the public school systems across the country continue to fail. Although school choice is a popular topic that some consider being the answer, will it be the answer for everything? There’s only one way to find out.
