Fairness Of AG’s Loudoun Sex Assault Investigation Questioned
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VIRGINIA — Virginia’s new Republican attorney general, Jason Miyares, has hired former Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Theo Stamos, a Democrat, to lead an investigation into how Loudoun County officials handled sexual assaults at two high schools in 2021.
As part of the investigation, Stamos, in her role as special counsel to the attorney general for special investigations, will review the involvement of Loudoun County Public Schools, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney in the two cases.
As Miyares’ point person on the Loudoun County investigation, Stamos will look at the cases involving a now-15-year-old boy who was arrested last May by a Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office school resource officer in connection with a sexual assault at Stone Bridge High School.
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The reporting of the incident to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office was mandatory. The Office of Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj then went on to prosecute the case.
The teenager was then transferred to Broad Run High School, where he assaulted another girl in October.
Find out what’s happening in Arlington with free, real-time updates from Patch.
The teenage boy was convicted on charges in both cases. In his sentencing last month, a judge ruled that teen will remain on supervised probation in a locked juvenile treatment facility until his 18th birthday.
“From what I can tell, there was nothing particularly unusual about how the prosecutor, sheriff, or court system handled that case,” Brad Haywood, chief public defender for Arlington and Falls Church, told Patch, referring to the first sexual assault in May. “They followed the law, reported the incident, and the matter was adjudicated relatively quickly.”
Prosecutors and the courts handle juvenile sex offenses differently than adult sex offenses. Most children never re-offend, and a decision to remove a juvenile from a mainstream school can have dire consequences, according to experts.
Background On Prosecutors
In 2019, Stamos lost the Democratic primary for Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney to Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, a reform-minded prosecutor who went on to win the general election and was sworn into office in January 2020.
Stamos then joined the U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump in January 2020 after serving out her term as Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney.
The decision by Stamos to join the office of a Republican attorney general did not surprise Haywood.
Criminal justice issues have bipartisan support on either side, whether it is the reform side embraced by Dehghani-Tafti or the tough-on-crime side supported by Stamos, Haywood said.
Groups funded by the right-wing Koch foundations favor many of the same criminal justice reform efforts supported by Dehghani-Tafti and other reformist prosecutors in Virginia. On the other side, Democrats like Stamos “take a carceral [prison-focused] approach,” Haywood said.
The attorney general’s office said it believes in Stamos’ ability to conduct a fair investigation, touting her record as a former commonwealth’s attorney.
“The Attorney General’s Office has every confidence in her ability to conduct a fair, impartial investigation that will provide parents with the explanation and answers they deserve,” Victoria LaCivita, spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said in an email to Patch. “She has a long track record with conducting investigations and applying the law equally, including as Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney.”
In an executive order issued Jan. 15, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin authorized an investigation into Loudoun County Public Schools by the attorney general.
READ ALSO: Investigation Into Loudoun Schools Announced By Attorney General
Failed Legislation Tried To Take Over Investigations
Upon getting sworn in as attorney general, Miyares also developed legislation that would allow his office to seize control of certain criminal cases from local prosecutors. As part of the campaign to take over local cases, Miyares accused another reform-minded prosecutor, Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano, of “not doing his job.”
Descano countered that Miyares was staging an “unprecedented attempt at a power grab,” WUSA reported last month.
Late last month, a Virginia Senate committee rejected the legislation, putting an end to Miyares’ campaign to get the legislation passed in this General Assembly session.
As part of her investigation, Stamos will be reviewing the office of Biberaj, a Democrat and a proponent of criminal justice reform who defeated Republican Nicole Wittmann in November 2019 in the Loudoun Commonwealth’s Attorney race.
In January, Miyares hired Wittmann to serve as a deputy attorney general of Virginia for the criminal division.
“It starts to look really sketchy,” Haywood said, in reference to Wittmann and Stamos joining Miyares in the attorney general’s office. “You’ve hired two people who have lost elections to progressive prosecutors, and now you are putting one of them on an assignment to investigate, in part, a political opponent of one of your other employees.”
Stamos also will look at how the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office handled the sexual assaults at the two schools. Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman served on Miyares’ attorney general transition team.
“Are they really going to be able to objectively investigate the sheriff?” Haywood asked.
“It just feels like, along with everything else Miyares has been doing since he got into office, that it’s just politics,” Haywood said. “He’s trying to score political points.”
RELATED: Sentence Changed For Teen Convicted In Loudoun Sexual Assaults
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