A Loudon County teenager found guilty of sexually assaulting girls at two separate high schools has been sentenced to supervised probation in a residential treatment facility, a punishment that has many parents up in arms. 

The same parents who are angry over the punishment meted out to the teen, who according to Fox News must also register as a sex offender, were in the center of a political storm as the case unfolded. According to a WJLA ABC 7 report, several school board members allegedly received death threats.  Josh Mercer, political director of CatholicVote.org, maintained that federal officials threatened to break out counter-terrorism measures against the parents who simply wanted to ensure the board and the district were held accountable. 

“Just a few months ago the media tried to make an example of the father of the first rape victim, who got heated at a school board meeting after he felt his daughter’s rape was being brushed under the carpet,” Mercer said in a statement. “Well, now we all know he was right. And as for the White House and the public officials who conspired to turn this story into an intimidation tactic against parents? The elections in Virginia were just the first step in the battle to reform public schools. Parents will not soon forget how their families were treated."

According to the WJLA report, Scott Smith was arrested in June and charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice after a heated exchange at a Loudon County Public Schools Board of Education meeting. The station noted that by September the  National School Boards Association sent a letter to Pres. Joe Biden that mentioned his arrest and urged the FBI to investigate an increasing number of instances of violence nationwide aimed at school boards. The report noted that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland was even questioned by Republican lawmakers about Smith and about labeling these instances as domestic terrorism. 

"I do not think that parents getting angry at school boards for whatever reason, constitutes domestic terrorism," Garland told lawmakers at the time, according to WJLA. 

Loudon County Sheriff Michael Chapman, according to the Fox News report, laid the blame at the feet of Superintendent Scott Ziegler. According to the report, the boy was allowed to remain in school after the first incident at Stone Bridge High School, which occurred on May 28. The report noted he was transferred to Broad Run High School, where the second incident occurred on Oct. 6. The case even shook the judge, who according to the report said the psychological reports were unsettling and noted the perpetrator needs help. 

“You scared me,” the judge said from the bench. “What I read scared me.”

The suspect was tried as a minor because he was 14 years old at the time of the first assault, according to Fox News, which did not publish the name of the perpetrator or his victims because of their ages. 

 During impact statements before the court, the victim in the first assault, according to the Fox News Report, told the court that she hopes the teen gets the help he needs. 

The parents of the first victim, Scott and Jessica Smith, also gave statements, according to the report, with the girl’s father noting he’d been accused of lying for political gain, telling the boy his family and system failed him.