sexual assault | FFXnow

Morning Notes

Published March 16, 2022 at 7:30AM | Updated March 16, 2022 at 8:40AM

Construction cranes above the Tysons skyline (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Suspect in Attacks on Unhoused People Previously Jailed in Fairfax County — “Gerald Brevard III, 30, had been in and out of jail in D.C., Virginia and Maryland on varying charges including assaulting a police officer and shoplifting, court records show. Most recently he served several months in Fairfax County jail after he was arrested on an abduction charge that was reduced to misdemeanor assault in a plea agreement.” [The Washington Post]

Man Arrested for Herndon Sexual Assault — “Andy Josue Calix Mejia, 23, of Sterling was arrested for sexually assaulting a juvenile last year in the Town of Herndon, according police…The incident happened March 25, 2021, in the 500 block of Florida Avenue.” [Patch]

News

BREAKING: Fairfax County School Board takes sexual assault lawsuit to U.S. Supreme Court

By Angela Woolsey

Published January 13, 2022 at 2:00PM | Updated March 15, 2024 at 2:45PM

Supreme Court (via SCOTUS)

(Updated on 1/14/2022 at 4:30 p.m.) The Fairfax County School Board has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a former student’s sexual assault lawsuit, a move that could reshape how the federal law against sexual violence in schools is interpreted.

A petition filed by the school board on Dec. 30 argues that public school systems can’t be held liable for sexual harassment and assault unless officials knew an assault took place and could have prevented it.

News

Former priest charged with sexual abuse of children in Fairfax County

By Angela Woolsey

Published December 28, 2021 at 2:00PM

Fairfax County Courthouse (file photo)

A retired priest who headed the Catholic Diocese of Arlington’s Office of Child Protection and Safety for seven years has been indicted for allegedly sexually abusing a boy in Fairfax County two decades ago.

Virginia’s Office of the Attorney General announced this morning (Tuesday) that a grand jury handed down two felony charges against Terry Specht, 69, of Donegal, Pennsylvania on Dec. 20.

News

FCPS seeks to put new trial for sexual assault lawsuit on hold, potentially setting up Supreme Court appeal

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 23, 2021 at 9:30AM

Sign for Fairfax County Public Schools outside the Gatehouse Administration Center (file photo)

Fairfax County Public Schools has asked a federal appeals court to postpone an ordered retrial of a former Oakton High School student’s sexual assault lawsuit, setting up a possible escalation of the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The school system plans to file a petition for a writ of certiorari requesting that the Supreme Court take up the case, according to Public Justice, the nonprofit legal organization that represents the student, who has only been identified as Jane Doe.