Virginia Attorney General-elect Jason S. Miyares (R) has announced that he will investigate Loudoun County Public Schools including the two recent instances of sexual assault in county high schools. He intends to “develop legislation allowing his office to intervene when chief law enforcement officials believe the prosecutors are not doing an adequate job”.
From the LoudounTimes.com:
Miyares, who spoke to reporters on Thursday, referenced prosecutors in northern Virginia as the impetus for the decision. Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman (R) joined the attorney general-elect for questions.
“We’re obviously aware of some pretty horrific cases … if there’s anything that I want to bring back to the forefront in this process are the victims,” Miyares said.
“As a former prosecutor, those are the individuals that you remember — the victims,” he said. “I don’t remember the defendants much and so that’s been a little bit of my frustration that I’ve seen as I think the victims have been forgotten. And when prosecutors are making plea deals on child rape cases, over the objection of the family, I have a serious problem with that. So, we’re going to have a legislative fix on that.”
Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney Buta Biberaj (D) said she welcomes the attorney general-elect and governor-elect’s involvement in investigating the assault cases from Loudoun County Public Schools.
The commonwealth’s attorney said her office is committed to transparency and her goal is to always ensure “the safety of our community and the allocation of resources dictates what cases we are able to focus more on, and what cases we need to handle differently.”
“Loudoun County elected me to ensure that we are always having a fair and just system and also to direct our resources towards stability in our community by approaching cases that deal with mental health, addiction, and poverty, differing from those that are violent,” Biberaj said.
This is excellent news for Loudoun. We need someone looking over the shoulder of CA Buta Biberaj. The focus needs to be on the victims, not on leniency for the criminals as it has been in Loudoun County.
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