Loudoun County Public Schools became embroiled in controversy beginning two years ago, when on two separate occasions and at separate high schools, a male student who identified as gender-fluid forced two female students to commit sex acts, with one of these incidents occurring inside a women’s bathroom. In the wake of elections where officials involved in the incidents faced the voters, let us take a trip down memory lane.

The first of these incidents took place on May 28, 2021, at Stone Bridge High School, where the fifteen-year-old male student forced a young girl into a sexual encounter. Loudoun County residents, of which I am one, almost instinctively fell in line with their political camps once the news reached the public. One side immediately assumed that this claim against the boy was baseless and a result of his sexual identity.

The other camp instinctively, and correctly, knew something was off about the entire situation. Our entire county was engrossed in the story, since many of my neighbors and friends have children who attend the school or know people directly involved in the ordeal.

In the month after this event, former superintendent Scott Ziegler was quoted at a school board meeting saying that “the predator transgender student or person simply does not exist.” His comments shocked many in our community, as it was clear the school was going on full defense and pretending the event did not happen. Scott Smith, the father of the assaulted girl, was in attendance at the school board meeting and vocally protested Zielger’s assertion, leading to his arrest. Later he was convicted on charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

When I was running errands the day after the arrest, I remember seeing the front page of our local newspaper completely dedicated to the story with a horribly unflattering photo of the father, who was detained with his shirt twisted and pulled over his stomach. The narrative framing was already and intentionally in full swing. As a side note, Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin thankfully pardoned the gentleman once he took office.

Weeks later, on October 6, 2021, the male student sexually assaulted another girl, this time in the women’s restroom of another district’s school. The Loudoun County Juvenile Court determined that the boy was “not innocent” of forcible sodomy and fellatio. He pleaded “no contest” to the charges following the incident.

Parents and community members in Loudoun County were obviously furious since “the student that simply does not exist” does in fact exist and was allowed to perpetrate these acts on multiple victims. People on both sides of the political aisle have not minced words about their dissatisfaction with Loudoun County Commonwealth Attorney Buta Biberaj, whose soft-on-crime approach has left many Loudon County residents feeling unsafe. The blame for this outrageous situation has been said to be placed squarely at the feet of the attorney and the school board members who continually denied that these events were happening in their high schools.

Biberaj has been criticized for her links to progressive billionaire George Soros, who funded her campaign, and her decision to divert low-level misdemeanors and nonviolent charges to the police rather than the attorney’s office. When the sexual assaults came to the forefront, Biberaj went out of her way to not only help the male student stay off of the sex offender registry, but instead found time to try a disorderly conduct case against Scott Smith. In his interactions with the attorney, Smith described Biberaj as one of the “most evil people” he has ever met.

It turns out that actions, and elections, have consequences. Residents did not forget the involvement of Biberaj and other Loudoun County school board members as they cast their ballots on November 7, 2023. Biberaj lost her reelection bid for commonwealth attorney in a very blue county by over 300 votes to Republican former prosecutor Bob Anderson.

This serves as an important reminder for any person wishing to be an elected official: remember the power of the parent. Their memory is long and they are motivated to protect their children from unaccountable bureaucrats.