Jessica Smith, the mother of a Loudoun County rape victim, said that her family was “silenced” from speaking about her daughter’s assault and unaware that the male attacker — who has since been found guilty — was back in school, according to an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.
Smith told the DailyMail that she was “dumbfounded” when she learned that the boy who assaulted her daughter on May 28 had been transferred from one Loudoun County Public high school to another. The family was under the impression that the boy was not attending school at the time. The family is finalizing litigation against Loudoun County Public School district, a source close with the family confirmed to the Daily Caller.
After facing charges of assault against the Smith’s daughter, the boy was transferred to a different high school within Loudoun County Public Schools.
“When I learned that there was a second victim, I was dumbfounded,” Smith said. “I didn’t believe it because I was under the impression that he was at home on an ankle monitor, not at school.”
The boy was transferred from one high school to another under the recommendation of Loudoun County’s Commonwealth Attorney Buta Biberaj. Biberaj has defended her decision. According to Fox 5, Biberaj said that the boy “had no history of having done this prior to this offense that was alleged.” However, the boy’s mother conceded that her son has a history of misbehaving and once sent nude photos of himself to a girl in fifth grade, according to DailyMail.com.
Biberaj also prosecuted Smith’s husband for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. (RELATED: Loudoun County Attorney Tried To Prosecute ‘Domestic Terrorist’ Parent, Despite Pledging To End Mass Incarceration)
Smith said that she was “furious,” “sad,” and “hurt” when she realized that there was a second victim. The mother said that the pain of May 28 — the day their daughter was assaulted — “all came back.”
“We were silenced for many months,” Smith said. “We were told not to say a word. ‘That could jeopardize your daughter’s case.’ … We were not going to be silenced anymore. No more victims. We felt like this was our responsibility.”
The boy was charged with forcible assault of Smith’s daughter, according to WJLA. He pleaded no contest to the charges in the second assault and will be sentenced for both crimes in December, according to the Washington Examiner.
On the day of the Smith daughter’s assault, the teen boy was wearing a skirt when he entered the girl’s bathroom. The victim’s father blamed the assault on a controversial transgender bathroom policy, which he rationalized as the school board’s motive to remain silent about his daughter’s assault.
Smith said in her interview with DailyMail that there “was no relevance of what he was wearing.”
“The relevance is there was a boy in the girl’s bathroom who attacked my child,” Smith said.