After approximately nine hours of deliberation, the Howard County Circuit Court jury tasked with deciding the fate of the defendant in the Maryland School for the Deaf sex abuse case remains deadlocked, according to deputy Howard County State's Attorney Mary Murphy.
The 12-member jury spent all day Tuesday deliberating on the charges against Clarence Cepheus Taylor III, 38, of Baltimore County, who is accused of groping, and in some cases kissing, seven girls while working as an aide at the school's Columbia campus from 2008 to 2011.
Taylor, who is deaf, was arrested in December of 2012 after one of the students mentioned in passing that "he liked to touch girls," according to the prosecution.
During his two-plus-hour testimony last Friday, Taylor became visibly frustrated at times in his response to some of the prosecution's questions.
Taylor denied the incidents occurred, including accounts by two victims who said he pulled them into an alcove and kissed them on the lips, and questioned the credibility of the students.
Other students, who were aged 10 to 13 at the time, said Taylor grazed and grabbed their breasts, buttocks and vagina on the outside of their clothing, according to the prosecution.
Taylor is also accused of sending text messages to some of the students, requesting pictures of their breasts, according to the prosecution.
Taylor, who is on leave from the school, is a graduate of the Columbia campus and the Frederick campus.
The jury is expected to reconvene Wednesday morning.