Former music teacher loses appeal in child sex case

HANOVER (AP)  The Virginia Court of Appeals has rejected the appeal of a former school music teacher who is serving a 7-year prison sentence for child solicitation.

The court ruled on Jan. 12 that a trial judge did not err in denying a motion by Ryan Thomas Pick of Woodbridge to suppress the contents of a sexually explicit online communication with an undercover investigator because the investigator did not violate the wiretap act.

The court also rejected Pick’s claim that he was subjected to custodial interrogation without being advised of his Miranda rights and said there was sufficient evidence to support his conviction.

Pick was arrested in 2018 after corresponding online with a Hanover County’s sheriff’s investigator posing as a 13-year-old girl. He was convicted in 2019 on two counts of using a communication system to procure a minor for an unlawful act and one count of soliciting a minor under the age of 15.

Media outlets reported that Pick taught music at Cameron Elementary School in Alexandria and was also the music director at his local church.