A grand jury in Loudoun County has indicted former schools superintendent Scott Ziegler with three counts of misdemeanor and public information officer Wayde Byard with a felony for perjury. A Loudoun County judge unsealed the indictments Monday.

Loudoun County Public Schools officials have been under fire for their handling of two sexual assaults by the same alleged perpetrator at two different high schools. The grand jury issued a damning investigative report last week, stating that the second assault “could have, and should have, been prevented” and that there was a serious breakdown in communication within LCPS as it was handling the assaults. The County School Board voted unanimously to fire Ziegler last week. Byard has been put on leave, according to an LCPS press release issued Monday afternoon.

Ziegler is facing one count of misdemeanor for false publication, one count of misdemeanor for prohibited conduct, and one count of misdemeanor for penalizing an employee for making a court appearance. The special grand jury returned a true bill, which means that it decided to indict Ziegler, on June 14 and added two indictments against him on Sept. 28. The jury issued its fourth indictment against Byard for perjury on Sept. 28.

A spokesperson for Loudoun County Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment.

Ian Prior, the leader of Fight for Schools, a conservative advocacy group that led an unsuccessful effort to remove two county school board members last year, said he and his group were “beyond pleased that the families that were harmed by the egregious failures of the leadership of Loudoun County Public Schools, exacerbated by its repeated acts of deceit and dishonesty, will receive some measure of justice.”

Prior, a former Trump administration official, has also been an outspoken opponent of so-called critical race theory being taught in Loudoun schools.

“We also must recognize the parents in Loudoun County that have stood up for years highlighting the arrogance, incompetence, and gross neglect of those leaders,” Prior said in a statement to DCist/WAMU.

The assault has become a flashpoint as conservative groups in the region attempted to link the assault to policies that would make bathrooms inclusive to transgender and nonbinary students, despite the fact that those policies were not in place at the time of the assault, and that there is no other evidence of a connection.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin offered his first public comment on the report this past weekend. In an interview with 7NewsDC reporter Nick Minock, Youngkin said he “wasn’t shocked at all” by the grand jury’s report, blaming the school board for mismanagement of the assaults. Attacking the school board has long been a talking point for Youngkin.

“The circumstances that the grand jury was investigating were circumstances that we were deeply, deeply aware of last year. And the fact that it took an election, a new governor and on day one an executive order to get this investigated, I think really speaks to the fact that I think the Loudoun County School Board let everyone down and didn’t do their job,” Youngkin said.

Loudoun4All, a progressive advocacy group, said that it is “difficult to comment” on the indictments without further details, but that it is “grateful that real problems in LCPS are being unearthed so they can be addressed.”

The group also pushed back on Youngkin and conservatives for laying the blame on the school board, which has been embroiled in fights with parents over critical race theory and transgender rights, instead of holding LCPS accountable.

“We are dismayed at the way information was (and continues to be) intentionally twisted to confuse the roles of the School Board and LCPS Administration in order to place blame on the school board for political purposes,” Loudoun4All said in a statement. “This misinformation makes it far harder for the public to understand the real issues, and therefore makes it harder for those issues to be addressed.”

The group also renewed its call for the resignation of Loudoun County Sheriff Michael Chapman.

Parents of one of the sexual assault survivors, from Broad Run High School, issued a statement Monday.

“The senior leaders at both high schools, along with the Loudoun County Public Schools and the School Board members, should be reminded that our fifteen-year old daughter displayed more courage and leadership when she reported what happened to her to the Sheriff’s Resource Office than any of them ever did. The ineptitude of all involved is staggering,” they said.

The school board is meeting Tuesday night. It is expected to discuss a policy for employees involved in legal proceedings, as well as the grand jury’s report with division counsel.