The Court of Special Appeals has upheld Ronald Walter Price's child abuse convictions, ruling his claim that he was illegally detained was "bizarre" and also rejecting his contention that he was charged improperly and tried with tainted evidence.
The stinging 11-page opinion gave a graphic account of the crimes of the former Northeast High School social studies teacher, whose case gained national attention when he admitted on the television show "Geraldo!" that he had had sex with his students, then rejected his claims in a tone that bordered on the sarcastic.
The Thursday ruling notes, for instance, that Price had sex with one 15-year-old victim in the school's audiovisual room in 1991 and then "dutifully drove the young girl home because her mother had earlier asked him to bring her home in the interest of her safety."
Price was convicted Sept. 8, 1993, by an Anne Arundel Circuit Court jury of three counts of sexual child abuse and was sentenced to 21 years in prison after three victims testified that they had had sex with him between 1981 and 1991, while he was teaching at Northeast.
Price's lawyers were out of the country and unavailable yesterday, but William C. Mulford II, the former assistant state's attorney who prosecuted the case, said he was "just happy that it's over."
"It gives some finality to the case and will hopefully mean Mr. Price's victims can get on with their lives," he said.
Price, 49, said on the television show that he had had sex with at least seven girls in the 24 years he taught at Northeast. But he alleged in his appeal that he should not have been charged with child abuse because he never had "care and custody" of the victims, a legal requirement if a teacher or other caretaker is to be charged with child abuse.
He also claimed that he was denied bail illegally after his arrest April 20, 1993, and that the computer files taken by police from his home 10 days later were improperly seized.
The opinion, signed by Judges Charles E. Moylan, Jr., Dale R. Cathell and Joseph Murphy, said Price's lawyers failed to raise the care and custody argument at trial and therefore couldn't bring it up on appeal.
And it called Price's claim that he was illegally detained for 24 hours after he was arrested at his Brooklyn Park home "bizarre."
"It is preposterously disproportionate to suggest that one day of allegedly illegal pretrial detention should absolve the appellant of twenty-one years of legitimate post-trial imprisonment," the ruling says.
It also noted that the computer files seized by the police were ruled inadmissible by Judge Eugene M. Lerner before the trial and were not used as evidence.