NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A former Hoggard High School volleyball coach will go before an appeals court for sex crime charges that were dismissed in New Hanover County Superior Court last week.
READ MORE: Hoggard High volleyball coach arrested for sex crimes
Ronnie Strickland was charged in April 2021 with two counts of sexual activity by a custodian, a crime where an adult engages in a sexual act with a minor. According to court records, Strickland has two charges related to sexual acts with a minor from 1980 to 1984. During this time, Strickland was a teacher in New Hanover County Schools; he retired in 2009, but continued to coach basketball at Hoggard High School.
Last week, Judge Ricardo Jensen presided over a bench trial and granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss the charges.
According to Samanatha Dooies, assistant to the district attorney, the judge ruled that the victim was not in the custody of the New Hanover County Schools at the time of the offenses. Additionally, there was no statute in place at the time that made it a crime for a teacher to engage in sexual activity with students that were 16 and 17 years old.
Dooies said the state would appeal the decision.
Strickland was arrested after two people came forward in March 2021 disclosing details of inappropriate relationships with the coach. However, the Wilmington Police Department said it received allegations as early as 2018 but reported “no leads or evidence in that case.”
According to arrest warrants, Strickland’s first charge stems from an allegation of intercourse with a 16-year-old on May 1, 1980, the accuser’s birthday. Strickland, 26 at the time, was acting in a parental role in the home of the victim, the warrant states.
Between August 1983 and May 1984, Strickland is accused of engaging in another sexual act with a different 16-year-old while “assuming” the parental position, according to the warrant.
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