CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – In his own strongly-worded letter back to the Albemarle County School Board, Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley defended comments made about the school division in court by one of his deputies and blasted Board Chair Dr. Rebecca Berlin for launching a “public debate” over the remarks. 

Hingeley also said he does “not give much credence” to an external report the school division had done to review its own Title IX investigation, stating in his letter that “I stand with the Albemarle County Police Department whose investigation produced evidence” that led to the indictment of former Hollymead Elementary School staffer Michael Swiney.

On Thursday, Deputy Chief Commonwealth’s Attorney Lawton Tufts questioned the “trustworthiness” of the division’s Title IX report regarding allegations against Swiney, who is facing 11 felony charges for sex crimes against children. Tufts also accused the school division of being less than cooperative with the Commonwealth Attorney’s office. 

Monday, Albemarle County School Board President Dr. Rebecca Berlin sent Hingeley a letter refuting Tufts’ claims and asking Hingeley to meet with Acting Superintendent Dr. Chandra Hayes to clarify mandated reporting procedures. Dr. Kate Acuff, the Board’s longest tenured member, also told Cville Right Now that Tufts’s comments were “unfortunate.”

Tuesday, Hingeley responded, stating in his letter, “I support and endorse the statements Mr. Tufts made in court concerning the actions of ACPS in the Swiney investigation.”

“I understand why the School Board is defensive,” Hingeley wrote to Berlin, according to a copy of the letter sent to Cville Right Now. “But it’s not clear why you immediately chose to make my position on Mr. Tufts’ comments a matter of public debate without first giving me a chance to meet with you, explain the Commonwealth’s position, and point out factual inaccuracies in your letter. Your rush to release the letter to the media has now created a one-sided public debate in which I will not be able to participate.”

Hingeley said ethical rules limiting public commenting on ongoing cases by attorneys who are party to the cases. He criticized the school division for sharing the board’s letter with the media before he had an opportunity to read it and respond.

Hingeley’s letter also stated that the division’s decision to release an outside consultant’s Title IX report when it did, shortly before Swiney’s bond hearing Thursday, put Tufts in a difficult position. 

Tufts successfully convinced Albemarle County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Higgins not to grant Swiney bail, and Hingeley called Tufts’s arguments in court “entirely proper.”

“As prosecutors, our job is to do justice, and to protect victims and the community at bail hearings when the accused is asking to be released into the community,” Hingeley’s letter said.