Ian Patrick, FISM News
The 15-year-old “boy in skirt” in Loudoun County, Virginia who was convicted of sexually assaulting two girls in different high schools will not be placed on the sex offender registry, according to an update from The Daily Wire which initially broke the news about the Loudon County case.
A Loudoun County court had initially ruled on Jan. 12 that the rapist would be placed in a juvenile facility until he turns 18, and that he would be put on a sex offender registry list in agreement with suggestions from the prosecution. Following the ruling, however, the defense argued that the prosecution did not “provide a written motion that they would seek to have the teen placed on the registry before Brooks made her initial ruling,” according to reporting from WTOP News.
Judge Pamela Brooks agreed and gave both sides a chance to present their arguments during the hearing on Thursday, Jan. 27. This hearing led to her decision to revoke her decision to mandate the rapist be placed on the sex-offender registration for life.
“This court made an error in my initial ruling,” Brooks said in delivering her decision. “The court is not vain enough to think it’s perfect, but I want to get it right.”
On October 25, 2021, the court found enough evidence to convict the boy of engaging in nonconsensual sex with two girls in two separate schools: one on May 28 in Stone Bridge High School and the other on Oct. 6 in Broad Run High School. There was another alleged victim in the case, but the boy was not charged for the third instance. He was convicted on two counts of sodomy and placed in the juvenile rehabilitation center.
During the hearing Caleb Kershner, one of the three defense lawyers, argued that the teen had already seen enough media attention and outcry. Kershner painted him as a victim in need of no more penalization, instead pointing blame at the school system in Loudoun County which came under fire for evidence that showed it had poorly handled the situation and then allegedly covered it up.
Kershner said the rapist felt “cheated” by the school system, as it had transferred him to Broad Run while awaiting trial for the May 28 Stone Bridge assault. It was at Broad Run that he committed the second assault on Oct. 6, which was then added to the charges against him. He had already been arrested for the first incident and placed on electronic surveillance.
Loudoun County Commonwealth Attorney Buta Biberaj argued that it was out of safety for the community and for the boy that he be in the juvenile facility and be placed on the registry until age 30.
The judge sided with the defense, noting studies which suggest that “adolescent brains don’t stop developing till age 27.”
The reaction was not received well by one of the victims’ families. Scott Smith, whose daughter was involved in the May 28 assault and who brought the initial lawsuit against the rapist, said he and his wife were “heartbroken” and felt let down by “the justice system and and the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s attorney.”
The person who committed these horrible crimes against these three young women will not have to bear the shame at being known as a lifetime registered sex offender, as he was originally sentenced. We are now concerned more than ever that this change in his legal status may put other parents’ daughters at risk of harm in the future.
Meanwhile, Virginia’s new Attorney General Jason Miyares recently made good on a campaign promise to begin investigating the Loudoun County Schools concerning their mishandling and alleged coverup.
As a candidate, I promised to investigate the scandals at the Virginia Parole Board and Loudoun County Schools.
As Attorney General, I am proud to say that the process has begun and the investigations are officially open. pic.twitter.com/02wvO85wbI
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) January 15, 2022