The N.C. Supreme Court has issued a ruling reinstating the sentence for a former teacher convicted of sexually assaulting young female students.

TROY LOGAN PICKENS 2016 mugshot

Troy Logan Pickens was 26 years old at the time of his arrest in 2016 by US Marshals.

Pickens was accused of raping a 14-year-old female student. His charges include two counts of first-degree sex offense with a child and first-degree rape of a child.

The district attorney in the case later added three more sex crimes charges to the list of offenses committed by Pickens. Another victim, an 11-year-old girl, would later be identified.

Those crimes were committed while he was a teacher in Wake County at Durant Road Middle School. He had been employed since July 2015 with Wake County schools.

Pickens was suspended by the district pending an investigation.

A Wake County Public Schools spokesperson said in a statement to WRAL that, “The school system conducts criminal background checks on all applicants. The outcome of those checks is strictly confidential and we cannot disclose an individual’s information. However, if a background check reveals sexual misconduct, we do not hire that applicant.”

TROY LOGAN PICKENS, Central Prison booking photo

Pickens appealed his sentence handed down by the trial court of a minimum of 300 months (25 years) and a maximum of 420 months (35 years) for each of the three charges he was found guilty of by the jury.

Pickens, now 33 years old, is incarcerated in Central Prison in Raleigh with a projected release date 69 years from now in 2092 at which time Pickens would be turning 102.

The Court of Appeals thought the consecutive sentences were a “clear inference that a greater sentence was imposed because Defendant did not plead guilty,” after considering statements made by the trial court before Pickens was sentenced.

The Court of Appeals had vacated the sentence but the Supreme Court reversed that decision and reinstated it.

His appeal also argued that the trial court had improperly allowed a second victim’s testimony to be heard by the jury because he argued the second rape of a 14-year-old girl who was a student of his in his home was dissimilar from the rape of an 11-year-old girl at school.

The details of the sexual assaults, including vaginal and anal rape, are contained in the N.C. Supreme Court’s ruling, which was penned by Associate Justice Anita Earls.

The Court of Appeals also upheld the lower court’s decision to include the testimony and the Supreme Court agreed.

“Thus, we affirm the Court of Appeals’ holding that the Rule 404(b) evidence of Pickens’s assault on Kathleen was properly admitted and reverse the Court of Appeals’ decision to vacate Pickens’s sentence, resulting in a reinstatement of the original sentence imposed by the trial court,” Earls’ ruling states.