Hung Jury in Frazier Trial
The jury deliberated for three hours into Friday evening, then informed the court it could not reach a verdict in the case of Scott C. Frazier, 44, of Bald Eagle Township.
The panel of five women and seven men told presiding Judge Craig Miller they were deadlocked. The members were then dismissed and the court indicated a new trial would be held, jury selection to be scheduled for November.
Frazier had been charged in August of 2013 with indecent assault based on a late March incident last year involving an 18-year-old Central Mountain High School male.
Frazier, suspended without pay since the charges were filed, was on trial on two misdemeanor counts, indecent assault and harassment, both related to an alleged overnight incident in March of last year.
The 18-year-old and the accused both testified during the two day trial. Comments from the alleged victim were in line with information school district law enforcement personnel had gathered in assembling the case against Frazier.
A search warrant obtained by the school district in June of last year had alleged the victim had stayed at the high school overnight on March 27, 2013 working with Frazier on the set of a student production, “Young Frankenstein.”
On March 28, at approximately 6 a.m., the alleged victim said he had gone to the prop storage room behind the stage area of the auditorium to lie down on a couch; some 30 minutes later, according to the allegations, he awoke to find Frazier inappropriately touching him.
Friday saw Frazier take the stand and deny the allegations against him, including a claim from the accuser that Frazier had later contacted him and asked him to say nothing about the incident. He testified he had been unaware that the young man had been in the storage room.
Williamsport attorney Ronald Travis has represented Frazier throughout the legal proceedings against him while the case has been prosecuted by Clinton County District Attorney Karen Kuebler.
