Lawyers are preparing to make opening statements in the trial of a former Maryland School for the Deaf dormitory aide charged with sexually abusing seven female students at the school's Columbia campus.
A jury of seven men and five women was selected Tuesday morning in Ellicott City for the trial of 38-year-old Clarence Taylor III of Gwynn Oak.
Taylor has pleaded innocent to seven counts of child sexual abuse and three counts of soliciting a subject for child pornography.
He allegedly kissed, hugged or fondled the girls during their overnight stays at the school from 2008 to 2011. The alleged victims were in the fourth through eighth grades.
Because the defendant, the victims and many witnesses are hearing-impaired, there are five American Sign Language interpreters assisting in the courtroom.
Opening Comments Due in Md. Deaf School Abuse Case
Copyright AP - Associated Press
