A Circuit Court judge removed a Loudoun County prosecutor from a case citing “concerns” about “impartiality” after an appeal from father Scott Smith, whose daughter was raped at Stone Bridge High School in Virginia by a teen who went on to grope a student at a different school. …

Plowman found that “there is insufficient evidence to determine whether or not a direct conflict exists that would mandate removal and/or disqualification of the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office,” WTOP reported.

However, Plowman said he thought Smith’s lawyer was persuasive during oral argument in the motions hearing, and decided to appoint a special prosecutor, attorney Eric Olsen, to the case instead.

“The concerns about the public confidence in the integrity of the prosecution as well as the Defendant’s concerns regarding the impartiality of the Commonwealth’s Attorney are sufficiently grounded. As a result, the integrity of the Defendant’s due process rights is in jeopardy and must be protected,” Plowman wrote.