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Former South Royalton School Principal Dean Stearns, third from right, stands with family members and friends at the end of his sentencing hearing in Windsor Superior Court in White River Junction on Thursday. Rick Russell photograph via Valley News

This article by Anna Merriman was published by the Valley News on Jan. 23.

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A former South Royalton School principal was sent to prison for five years on Thursday for secretly recording teenage girls at his Sharon home in 2016 and 2017.

Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Mann handed down the sentence to Dean Stearns, 57. The sentence includes an additional five- to 10 years suspended, and probation upon his release.

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The sentence follows a plea deal Stearns struck in 2018 when he pleaded guilty to two felony counts of promoting a sexual recording or image and five misdemeanor counts of voyeurism. Despite the deal, there was still disagreement about how much actual time Stearns should spend incarcerated, with prosecutors arguing that he should receive five years in prison, and defense attorney Michael Shane arguing that the entire sentence should be suspended.

Stearns, who had been out on bond since March 2018, addressed the victims in court Thursday, apologizing for the way he “exploited the situation.”

“I began to groom myself to believe that there were no victims if they never knew,” he said in court, facing the judge while two of the victims buried their faces in their hands. “I stand before the court today a humbled and shamed man.”

Shane argued Thursday that Stearns was a loving father and husband who had already suffered consequences, including the loss of his job, facing his status as a felon, and the loss of his father, who “died in (Stearns’) arms when he told him” about his arrest.

But Mann said that Stearns’ actions stole “the innocence and trust” of young girls who were just starting their lives.

A mother of one of the victims gasped, and two of the victims held each other and cried as Mann delivered the sentence.

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“It showed that the girls really mattered and that the community mattered,” one of the mothers said in an interview following the hearing.

As a general practice, the Valley News doesn’t identify the victims of sex crimes.

One of the teenage girls said she was thankful for the support and for the security. Now, she said, she won’t have to run into Stearns around her town.

But Shane said the sentence was “certainly not justice,” in an interview following the hearing. He added that other people, including those who have sexually abused children, have received less time in prison than Stearns.

“This is clearly the court being influenced by fear of the public being unhappy,” he said.

The sentence stems from a period of time between the fall of 2016 and late 2017, when Stearns used hidden cameras to film five teenage girls in his Sharon home. Two of the girls were living with him temporarily, and three were visiting friends at his house, prosecutors have said.

Vermont State Police Detective Eric Jollymore testified Wednesday that Stearns hid video recording devices in a charger in the bathroom, an alarm clock in one of the girl’s rooms, and in other household items around his home. He was arrested after one of the victims discovered the camera in the bathroom in November 2017.

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