Ari Blaff writes for National Review Online about the latest instance of Virginia’s governor attracting national attention.
Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin has pardoned a father, Scott Smith, who was convicted of disorderly conduct for protesting a school-board meeting after his daughter was sexually assaulted by a male wearing a skirt in a girls’ bathroom.
“I spoke with Mr. Smith on Friday, and I had the privilege of telling Mr. Smith that I will pardon him, and we did that on Friday,” Youngkin told Fox News Sunday. “We righted a wrong. He should’ve never been prosecuted here. This was a dad standing up for his daughter.”
“His daughter had been sexually assaulted in the bathroom of a school, and no one was doing anything about it,” the Republican governor added before asserting that the school’s superintendent had “covered it up.”
In August 2021, Smith denounced Loudoun County educational administrators for failing to protect his daughter. Smith was confronted by law enforcement and forcibly detained at the time, sustaining injuries to his face and mouth. The following month, the concerned father was arrested and later convicted of two criminal counts.
“What happened to me can never happen to another American again, and it was kind of a bittersweet moment for me to accept this pardon,” Smith told a local ABC News affiliate from his home in Leesburg, Va., on Sunday.
“I think it’s pretty clear and convincing to the public that what happened to me that day should have never happened,” the father said.
An official statement released by the governor’s office on Sunday echoed Smith’s concerns and the need for greater parental oversight of schools.
“In Virginia, parents matter and my resolve to empower parents is unwavering. A parent’s fundamental right to be involved in their child’s education, upbringing, and care should never be undermined by bureaucracy, school divisions or the state. I am pleased to grant Scott Smith this pardon and help him and his family put this injustice behind them once and for all.”
