MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The Vermont Supreme Court ruled Friday that a former school principal serving a five-year prison sentence for secretly recording teenage girls in his home will be able to appeal his sentence.
The high court reversed a decision by a lower court that had dismissed the request by Dean Stearns, the former principal in South Royalton, to reconsider the sentence imposed in January 2020.
The Superior Court dismissed Stearns’ request to reconsider his sentence because it was filed last November, more than 90 days after he was sentenced.
But Stearns’ attorneys argued, and the high court agreed, that the 90 days should have been counted from when the court dismissed his request to appeal the conviction, which took place last August.
In December 2018, Stearns pleaded guilty to five counts of voyeurism and two counts of promoting a recording of sexual conduct. The charges stemmed from a period in 2016 and 2017 when prosecutors said Stearns used hidden cameras to film five teenage girls in his Sharon home.
The Superior Court will now consider Stearns’ motion for a reduced sentence on the merits.
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