A major development in the ongoing investigation into the sexual assault of a high school girl by a man in a dress in a Loudoun County, Virginia public school took place Monday when two school officials were charged for mishandling the tragedy. Despite the national spotlight on the Loudoun County School District since May of 2021, all three evening news broadcasts ignored the news.
Instead of reporting on the news out of Loudoun County, CBS Evening News & NBC Nightly News reported on a fire that was started at a crime scene evidence center in New York, while ABC’s World News Tonight obsessed over the so-called “tripledemic” of Flu, COVID, & RSV cases which are allegedly overrunning hospitals.
Meanwhile, Fox News’s Special Report was on the case as they have from the beginning. Anchor Bret Baier opened the segment by noting how there’s “new trouble tonight for school officials in northern Virginia. A special grand jury has indicted two of them, a former superintendent and a spokesman. It has to do with the handling of a pair of sexual assault cases.”
Correspondent Mark Meredith took over from there in his report:
Former Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler ignored reporters’ questions upon arriving at a Virginia courthouse this afternoon. Ziegler is facing three misdemeanors after a grand jury examined how he and others in the suburban school district handled sexual assault cases.
“For more than a year Loudoun County parents have voiced outrage at school board meetings criticizing local leaders for a lack of transparency about a string of incidents dating back to May 2021 when a male student wearing a skirt sodomized a female in a high school girl's bathroom,” Meredith added.
Meredith concluded his report by revealing that “this afternoon, a judge set further hearings on this case for early next year. We're also watching as lawyers for one of the teenage sexual assault victims tell us a lawsuit is in the works. And that within the next few months they plan to sue both the school district and those who lead it.”
This bias by omission from the three networks was made possible by CarFax on ABC, Downy on CBS, and Fidelity on NBC. Their information is linked.
To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
FNC’s Special Report
12/13/2022
6:43:43 p.m. EasternBRET BAIER: New trouble tonight for school officials in northern Virginia. A special grand jury has indicted two of them, a former superintendent and a spokesman. It has to do with the handling of a pair of sexual assault cases. Correspondent Mark Meredith has details tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. Ziegler is there anything you want to say? Comment today about the charges?
MARK MEREDITH: Former Loudoun County Superintendent Scott Ziegler ignored reporters’ questions upon arriving at a Virginia courthouse this afternoon. Ziegler is facing three misdemeanors after a grand jury examined how he and others in the suburban school district handled sexual assault cases. Virginia's Attorney General is prosecuting the case.
JASON MIYARES: The Loudoun County school board failed to provide proper oversight, accountability, and transparency precisely at a time when the victims needed them the most.
MEREDITH: Officials are also charging district spokesperson Wade Beyer with felony perjury. Beyer is now on leave from his job.
[Chanting shame on you]
MEREDITH: For more than a year Loudoun County parents have voiced outrage at school board meetings criticizing local leaders for a lack of transparency about a string of incidents dating back to May 2021 when a male student wearing a skirt sodomized a female in a high school girl's bathroom. He was then transferred to another high school and then violently attacked a second female student. The parent of one victim says in his view the charges against school officials were long overdue.
[UNIDENTIFIED PARENT: God, after 18 months, man, the emotions are hard to come by sometimes. This was a day of reckoning.
MEREDITH: Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin campaigned heavily on promises to investigate Loudoun County operations. And while a grand jury found there was no coordinated effort to cover up the incident, the jurors found the second assault, quote: Could have and should have been prevented. This afternoon, a judge set further hearings on this case for early next year. We're also watching as lawyers for one of the teenage sexual assault victims tell us a lawsuit is in the works. And that within the next few months they plan to sue both the school district and those who lead it. Bret?
