The “gender-fluid” Virginia teenager who sexually assaulted a high school freshman in the girls’ bathroom at a Loudoun County high school in 2021 has been released from court supervision following his 18th birthday, according to The Post Millennial.
He has been out of the detention center since November. However, neither his victim nor her family were informed of his release.
Hunter Heckel was charged as a juvenile and will not have to register as a sex offender or have any public conviction on his record.
This decision contradicts the concerns expressed by Judge Pamela Brooks during his 2022 sentencing. “Over the years, this court has read many psychosexual reports, and when I read yours, frankly, it scared me,” she said. “It scared me for you, it scared me for society.”
The Daily Wire reported the incident in October 2021, revealing that it occurred within the Loudoun County school system. The report indicated that the school attempted to conceal the rape while working on a policy allowing students who identified as transgender to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity rather than their biological sex.
Heckel wore a skirt during the assault, which gave him access to the girls’ bathroom. At the time, Superintendent Scott Ziegler dismissed parents’ concerns as transphobic and denied the occurrence of the rape.
When the victim’s parents learned about their daughter’s assault, her father, Scott Smith, confronted the school board at a meeting, demanding accountability. Instead of addressing his concerns, Smith was escorted out of the meeting and arrested.
To avoid opposition to policies concerning LGBT issues, gender, and COVID-19, Democrats targeted parents who spoke out against these agendas at school board meetings. The FBI and Department of Justice suggested these parents should be investigated similarly to domestic terrorists.
Smith revealed that prosecutor Buta Biberaj did not notify his family of Heckel’s release from the juvenile treatment center in November. Biberaj also offered a plea deal for lesser charges after the rape, which further frustrated the family.
“They were trying to push through a BS plea bargain with no consequence. We were told there was nothing we could do about it,” Smith told the outlet. “If he hadn’t (assaulted a second girl), they were going to push us off a cliff.”
In court, Biberaj suggested that Smith should be sentenced for disorderly conduct after his outburst at the school board meeting when Ziegler denied the rape. Smith was later pardoned by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Smith is currently seeking justice for his daughter by suing Loudoun County Public Schools for violating federal laws meant to protect women.
“He basically walked out of this scarless,” Smith said of Heckel. “Hunter got a new start yesterday. When do we get our new start?”