Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin spoke Tuesday about the unusual pardon he issued for a Loudoun County parent, Scott Smith, saying he has the "full authority" to pardon Smith.
Democrats have called the move purely political and unconstitutional.
Smith's daughter was sexually assault inside a Loudoun County school in 2021. A month later, Smith was arrested at a school board meeting and was charged with obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct.
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The teen assailant was later convicted in juvenile court of sexually assaulting Smith's daughter and another victim in Loudoun County Public Schools.
Smith, the father of the first victim, had criticized school officials before his own arrest at the June 2021 school board meeting.
Youngkin released a statement Sunday stating he had pardoned Smith — but critics say the pardon conflicts with state law. Virginia's constitution says a governor may grant pardons after conviction. Smith was convicted of the charges in general district court but appealed to circuit court, which clears the lower court's convictions.
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On Tuesday, moments after Youngkin began his latest Parents Matter event in Loudoun County, the governor addressed the elephant in the room, stating he had given Smith a full pardon. The crowd cheered in response.
Smith had been in an ongoing legal battle until the governor's pardon.
"It was a little late, I must say," Smith said.
While Smith is grateful for the pardon, he also addressed the legal issue at hand.
"You can't pardon somebody who hasn't been convicted. So it made it very complicated, right? A lot of lawyers had to get involved and it took time," he said.
His circuit court trial hadn't happened yet, and News4 pressed the governor on this point.
"At the end of the day, I have the full authority to pardon him," Youngkin said. "That's what we did. He should've never, never been prosecuted."
University of Mary Washington political professor Stephen Farnsworth says a pardon before trial sets a dangerous precedent.
"It serves political purposes, to be sure, for the governor to engage in Loudoun at every opportunity. I don't know that it particularly wins him votes in Loudoun, but it certainly does energize the Republican base in other parts of the commonwealth or the country," Farnsworth said.
Early voting for Virginia's November election is just 10 days away.
Smith defended Youngkin on whether politics were at play in his pardon.
"We, as two fathers, had a conversation that had nothing to do with politics, nothing, when this pardon came up," Smith said.
Virginia's attorney general's office confirmed Younkin's staff consulted with them on the pardon, but the office would not provide any details on how they got around the constitutionality.
