Molestation Trial of Man Ends With Jury Deadlock

After jurors deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of acquittal, a mistrial was declared Thursday in the case of Harry Christ Manos, a Montebello high school science teacher accused of sexually molesting a 17-year-old male hitchhiker.

Manos, 50, acknowledged that he had picked up the boy near Las Vegas, taken him on a trip across the country, then moved the boy into the teacher’s Alhambra home. But he denied allegations that he repeatedly paid the boy to commit sex acts.

Several of the Pasadena Superior Court jurors who voted not guilty said the boy’s testimony was inconsistent and lacked substantiation. Manos was charged with three counts of oral copulation with a minor.

“The physical evidence, standing on its own, really didn’t support the charges,” said jury forewoman Denise Thornton, 28.

Outside the courtroom, Manos said of the jury: “I’m sorry these 10 couldn’t persuade the others. I think their perception is very accurate.”

Manos’ arrest last December received wide attention after police seized from his home a number of sexually explicit magazines, videos and photographs, along with a jar containing severed male genitals. The teacher later claimed the jar was a “gag gift” that a medical student had taken from a cadaver.

Before the trial, Judge Janice Claire Croft ruled that the jar could not be introduced as evidence because it was not related to the molestation charges.

After declaring a mistrial Thursday, Croft ordered the attorneys to return Sept. 19, when she will hear motions to dismiss the charges or schedule a new trial.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Amy Suehiro, who prosecuted Manos, said she was disappointed by the conclusion reached by a majority of the jurors. “I really don’t think it’s a correct verdict,” she said. “I don’t think justice has been done.”