A jury found former Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) superintendent Scott Ziegler guilty of firing a special education teacher in retaliation on Friday.
The split decision of the jury found Mr. Ziegler, who was embroiled in a larger sexual assault scandal that shook Loudoun County and made national headlines, guilty of retaliation by penalizing the teacher for grand jury service.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 4 and faces up to a year in jail.
The case against Mr. Ziegler stems from an investigation launched by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares into LCPS when Gov. Glenn Youngkin took office.
The probe was prompted by Mr. Ziegler firing a teacher, Erin Brooks, who testified before a special grand jury related to two sexual assault cases the superintendent was linked with. Ms. Brooks testified not about the two assaults, but that a 10-year-old student allegedly groped her, reported WTOP-TV.
Following her testimony, Mr. Ziegler decided not to renew Ms. Brooks’s contract for the 2021–22 school year.
Mr. Miyares welcomed the jury’s decision on Friday, declaring that “justice has finally been served in Loudoun County.”
“Nearly two years ago, Loudoun County Public Schools and the Loudoun County School Board were thrown into the public spotlight for all the wrong reasons,” Mr. Miyares said.
“One of the casualties of their neglect and mismanagement led to the retaliatory firing of a dedicated and caring school teacher,” he added. “Today, my office brought a measure of justice for Erin Brooks. The Office of the Attorney General will always be a voice for victims, and we’re grateful for the jury’s verdict.”
The 2021 special grand jury was convened to look into how LCPS handled two sexual assaults committed by the same male high school student who identified as “gender fluid.”
