The unnamed male student who identifies as gender fluid and has been the subject of controversy at the Loudoun County School District after he sexually assaulted a female student at the girls' bathroom has been sentenced to a treatment facility by a judge that took on his case.
The northern Virginia teenager was found guilty of sexually assault twice, against two female classmates at separate high schools. On Wednesday, he was ordered to attend a locked, residential treatment facility until his 18th birthday.
According to CBN News, the male student, who is now 15 years of age, was also ordered to be placed on the sex offender registry for life during a hearing in the Loudoun County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Step Judge Pamela Brooks admitted she had never previously ordered in a juvenile case. The 15-year-old defendant reportedly cried and hung his head on the table after his sentence was read by the judge.
Judge Brooks explained that she felt compelled to order in a juvenile case after she reviewed psychosexual and psychological evaluations of the defendant, which were conducted after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting two female classmates.
"Yours scared me," Judge Brooks told the defendant of his psychosexual and psychological evaluations. "I don't know how else to put it. They scared me for yourself. They scared me for your family. They scared me for society."
"Young man, you need a lot of help," Judge Brooks concluded.
Her decision to send the defendant to a residential treatment facility instead of juvenile jail was the result of the both victims' families' wishes for him to get help. She called this gesture of the victims' families "very brave and generous."
Before his sentencing, the defendant apologized to his victims and their families, saying that he did not realize how he had hurt them until he heard their testimonies. He concluded, "I will never hurt anyone like this again."
Loudoun County made headlines in 2021 when its school district Superintendent Scott Ziegler denied knowledge of the sexual assault cases in the district. According to Fox News, Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman blamed Superintendent Scott Ziegler for enabling the second assault that occurred on October 6, claiming that Ziegler knew about the first incident on May 28 and yet allowed the defendant to come to school. The school district has repeatedly denied covering up the sexual assault cases.
The father of the first victim, Scott Smith, who also made headlines for fighitng back against Loudoun County Public Schools' board members over the sexual assault of his daughter, described the defendant as a "dangerous animal" who said "belong in cages" and "sometimes even put down." He warned the boy, "This isn't over."
Meanwhile, the family of the second victim, who refused to be identified publicly, also spoke about the trauma their daughter suffered in the hands of the 15 year old sexual predator. The victim read a prepared statement in court that said, "What you have done to me will forever change my life."
