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CLINTWOOD, Va. (WJHL) — The Dickenson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an allegation of sexual assault involving two students at Ervinton Elementary School.
The sheriff’s office posted a statement Wednesday from Sheriff Jeremy Fleming in response to “significant social media attention” surrounding the allegation.
“It is not my general policy to speak publicly about specific investigations, especially when those matters involve minors,” Fleming said in the statement. “However, I feel compelled to address our community on a certain case that has garnered significant social media attention recently. I must inform the public about the specifics and the lengths my department went to investigate this matter and bring some sort of satisfaction to the family involved.”
According to the statement, the sheriff’s office was notified on Sept. 22 about a sexual assault allegation. School officials, including the school resource officer, began to investigate the allegation, according to the sheriff’s office.
“My chief investigator, who has more than 25 years in law enforcement and approximately 10 years in investigations was then contacted to respond,” Fleming said in the statement. “Joint interviews were conducted by law enforcement along with school personnel over the course of several days.”
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Fleming said video from the school’s surveillance cameras was reviewed and additional video footage has been requested from the school system, which will be reviewed by investigators and the commonwealth’s attorney.
“The reported incident is still under investigation and the case will be forwarded to the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office for review and a decision will be made concerning what, if any criminal charges will be made,” Fleming wrote.
The sheriff also said that a referral was made to the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations, which led to a separate investigation into another matter and ultimately charges being filed unrelated to the alleged sexual assault.
“It is my understanding that subsequent to that referral, the VSP conducted an independent investigation and brought their own charges not related to the sexual assault investigation,” Fleming said. “My Department was not involved in the investigation of this matter.”
The sheriff did not reveal any further details on VSP’s separate investigation.
