“I really feel like I can put things behind me. I don’t know what my future will be. The future’s day to day right now. My wife and I are gonna go to dinner. I’m gonna watch the Yankees game tonight. That’s as far ahead as I thought. So I’ve learned to take things one day at a time,” Byard told the media as he exited the courtroom, local news reported.
“I was a workaholic. I’ll admit that. And for a workaholic, it’s like having withdrawal when you have six months off. So I haven’t figured that whole thing out. But today, I can’t say I’m really happy because I expected this… and I felt confident in this. I felt confident in Judge Fleming. I felt confident watching the jury that there had been reached an impartial and fair verdict. And really, as far as like happiness or elation? No, I feel relieved, obviously.”
Press said Byard told the grand jury that he became aware of the first incident in which a “gender fluid” student assaulted a female in the girls’ restroom at Bridge High School after the perpetrator transferred to Broad Run High School and committed the second offense there.
Media reported that Byard’s defense team attempted to portray him as the “fall guy” for the controversy that, like many others, have shrouded the district in chaos.
“I feel like maybe I was a stand-in for other LCPS employees,” he said, according to press. The outlet added that he is unsure of whether he will return to his job after being placed on unpaid leave since December.
The Attorney General’s office maintained that Byard should be found guilty, though the outcome proved different.
Behind the hot-button case are the two incidents that took place in 2021, both caused by the same student but at two different LCPS schools. In June 2021, after the first incident, a father accused the district of covering up his daughter’s sexual assault when a biological male, wearing a skirt, entered the girls’ restroom and raped her.
Fox News Digital reached out to Loudoun County Public Schools for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.