Charges in Sex Case Dismissed : Courts: Jury had deadlocked on acquittal of teacher at Montebello school. The prosecution did not seek a retrial.

A judge on Wednesday dismissed all charges against a Montebello high school teacher whose trial on charges of having illegal sex with a 17-year-old boy ended last month in a mistrial.

Pasadena Superior Court Judge Janice Claire Crofton dismissed the case against Harry Christ Manos after Deputy Dist. Atty. Amy Suehiro said she would not seek a retrial because she does not believe she could win a conviction.

Jurors voted 10 to 2 in favor of acquittal in Manos’ trial.

Manos, 50, was accused of bringing the youth, a hitchhiker, to his Alhambra home in June, 1990, and requiring the boy to have sex with him in exchange for food and shelter.

The Schurr High School teacher was arrested Dec. 21 after the boy attempted suicide and while hospitalized told officials of his situation with Manos. Manos was charged with three counts of oral copulation with a minor.

During the trial, Manos said he picked up the homeless boy, but denied having sex with him. He also said he spent more than $100 in long-distance calls to the boy’s family in Las Vegas and twice drove the boy back, but the family refused to accept him.

The case attracted wide attention after Alhambra police seized a collection of pornographic videos and magazines and a jar containing severed male genitals from Manos’ house.

Manos said the jar was a joke gift. It was not admitted as evidence in the trial. The pornography “was private and personal and should stay that way,” Manos said Wednesday. “I’m entitled to my private life.”

Manos, who complained of being assaulted and burned with hot coffee by jail inmates, said he would still help young people, but “I probably won’t take anyone in my home again.”

With the dismissal of criminal charges, Manos faces a hearing before the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing to reinstate his suspended teaching license.

Schurr Principal James Douglas, who testified as a character witness for Manos, said Wednesday that he would be glad to have him back.

“He is an outstanding teacher, he has a national reputation, he speaks at physics conferences and he has started programs at Schurr and (previously) at Montebello High School,” Douglas said. “It’s a real shame that students have been deprived of somebody like this.”