AP reports:
The former superintendent of a northern Virginia school system [Scott Ziegler] has been indicted on three misdemeanor charges by a special grand jury that investigated the response to two sexual assaults committed by a student last year….
The three misdemeanors against Ziegler include one count of false publication, one count of prohibited conduct related to alleged retaliation against a teacher, and one count of penalizing an employee for a court appearance.
The indictments, unsealed Monday, include few details, but the false publication count appears to relate to a statement Ziegler made in June 2021 denying that there had been any assaults occurring in school bathrooms. In fact, the first sexual assault occurred a month earlier in a bathroom stall at Stone Bridge High School, and emails show Ziegler had been made aware of it.
Ziegler later said he misunderstood the question….
The trouble is that the false publication statute likely violates the First Amendment (see also this article by Quin Hillyer [Washington Examiner]). The statute reads,
