Jury Deciding Fate of Counselor Accused of Sexually Abusing Girls at Maryland School for the Deaf

A one-time counselor at the Maryland School for the Deaf in Columbia Friday vehemently denied in court testimony that he sexually abused seven girls at the school.

Clarence Taylor, 38, of Gwynn Oak in Baltimore County, who is hearing-impaired, used sign language to tell the Howard County Circuit Courtroom that he never touched any of the girls inappropriately. Through an interpreter, he said he believes the girls made up their stories against him.

Taylor is charged with seven counts of sexual abuse of a minor. Judge William V. Tucker dismissed three counts of solicitation of child pornography against Taylor on Friday morning.

The girls, who were ages 10 to 13 at the time of the alleged incidents, described inappropriate touching by Taylor, according to descriptions by the attorneys of the girls' testimony on Friday. The prosecutor, Lisa Broten, said there were 23 incidents in all.

Some of the girls said Taylor inappropriately touched them on their breasts during handshakes, describing the type of greetings in which two people would shake hands, then tap chests and give each other a partial hug. At least three of them said he touched their buttocks. One said he touched her thigh, and two said he briefly kissed them on their lips.

On the stand, Taylor testified that he may have accidentally bumped into the girls in narrow hallways or during group activities. But he added that any touching that may have occurred was never intentional and was not sexual in nature.

During the time of the reported incidents, from June 2008 to August 2010, Taylor was employed as a student life counselor at the Columbia school, which has an overnight program. His job duties included coordinating after school activities for the boy students and making sure the boys staying overnight went to bed. Some of the activities included interactions with the girl students, according to his testimony.

Taylor is a father of three. His wife and three children were present in the courtroom on Friday.

Broten said in closing arguments that there was no conspiracy among the girls against Taylor.

"If this was a conspiracy wouldn't these girls have come up with the same story?" asked Broten. 

Instead, said Broten, the girls came forward at different times, after a female school counselor heard one of the girls make an offhand comment that Taylor liked to touch girls.

"Each girl testified to her own experiences," said Broten. "There is zero evidence of a motive for them to make this up." He said Taylor would use handshakes and hugs as a ruse.

Besides the testimony of the girls, much of the evidence Broten summed up in her closing arguments revolved around a four-hour police interrogation of Taylor. During that interrogation, Broten said, Taylor wrote apology letters to the girls and asked God for forgiveness.

Taylor's defense attorney, Brandon Mead, reminded the jury that in order to convict Taylor jurors must find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He said the evidence presented in court was limited and cast doubt on the credibility of the girls.

"Every adult witness said they did not see him touch a girl," said Taylor. "There is no physical evidence whatsoever. There's no evidence these were done in a sexual manner."

One girl, said Mead, couldn't remember what year she was touched on the breast. Another said she reported an inappropriate touching to the principal, but the principal testified that she did not, said Mead. Another girl was laughing on the stand during her testimony, according to Mead.

"She thought this was a joke," he said.

As for the apology letters, Mead said Taylor never mentioned any inappropriate touching in them and that he only wrote them because the officer asked him to.

"When you hear sexual abuse charges," said Mead to the jury, "you likely didn't think it was a peck, hug or tap. These allegations should scare every one of you."

In the prosecutions' rebuttal, assistant state's attorney Joanna Miller said, "People do not touch children in front of other people."

She said that the girls' testimony was powerful and that the jury can "infer the defendant's intent."

Around 4 p.m. Friday the jury entered deliberations. The judge dismissed them at 4:30 p.m. They are scheduled to continue deliberations on Tuesday. The court is closed Monday for Veterans Day.

The trial began on Oct. 29. Taylor was arrested in December of 2012.

If convicted, Taylor faces up to 25 years in prison for each charge of sexual abuse of a minor.