On Sunday, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) granted an “absolute pardon” to the father who was arrested at a school board meeting after his daughter was sexually assaulted in the school restroom by a skirt-wearing boy in June 2021.
The pardon says that Scott Smith “exercised his constitutional right to attend a public meeting of the Loudoun County School Board to observe the proceedings, during which time a community member threatened to spread false and malicious information about Mr. Smith’s business with the intent to damage his reputation.”
“After an ensuing verbal confrontation, Scott Thomas Smith was charged with Obstruction of Justice and Disorderly Conduct,” and Smith was quickly convicted, even though an appeals court later disqualified the prosecutor due to concerns about “the integrity of the prosecution,” the pardon continues. “WHEREAS Scott Thomas Smith has been publicly and falsely accused of ‘domestic terrorism’ and ‘hate crimes’ for attempting to advocate for his daughter, a victim of sexual assault… I have decided it is just and appropriate to grant this ABSOLUTE PARDON that reflects Scott Thomas Smith’s factual innocence,” it concludes.
According to The Hill, Smith was convicted of obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct in 2021 and he pleaded not guilty. The obstruction of justice conviction was dismissed on appeal, and the disorderly conduct conviction was reportedly set to go to trial later this month.
The Daily Wire reported that Smith said that on the night of the June 2021 school board meeting, where school board members were discussing passing a policy to allow transgender students to use the restrooms of their choice, his daughter had intended to say through a megaphone how just a few weeks before, she had been raped in a school bathroom by a boy wearing a skirt.
“That’s why Jackie attacked us, was to stop [my daughter] from speaking,” he said, referring to Jackie Schworm, a radical Leftist who had just spoken to Smith’s daughter, then sought out Smith and threatened to use social media to ruin his business. A police officer grabbed Smith from behind, and a struggle ensued. “I want to thank Governor Youngkin for his declaration that I am innocent, and for his absolute and unconditional pardon,” Smith said in a statement Sunday. “While I was extremely confident in my lawyers’ abilities to defend me in court, I am grateful that the Governor recognizes that our justice system has been both weaponized and politicized to the point where my ability to receive a fair trial was in jeopardy.”
The pardon also claimed Smith “has been publicly and falsely accused of ‘domestic terrorism’ and ‘hate crimes’ for attempting to advocate for his daughter, a victim of violent sexual assault.”
The student who assaulted Smith’s daughter was convicted in 2021 in juvenile court but Democrat prosecutor Buta Biberaj did not place him on the sex offender’s list.
This article first appeared in American Liberty News. Republished with permission.
