Teachers' Aide Charged With Sexual Abuse at School for the Deaf

Howard County police arrested a 37-year-old man today for allegedly inappropriately touching three female students at the Maryland School for the Deaf.

According to police, three girls claim Clarence Cepheus Taylor, 37, of Windsor Mill, touched them on multiple occasions between 2008 and 2010 when he was working as an evening-shift dorm aide. 

One of the girls first reported the incidents to a teacher when she learned that she may not have been the only victim, according to police.

One of the girls told police that when she was 12 and 13, Taylor would hug her and rub his hand across her breast in the hallway of the dorm. 

Another told police that between the ages of 10 and 12, when she was an overnight student living in the dorm, Taylor would walk up and brush against her inappropriately with his hand. She also said that he would kiss her when she stood up after taking a drink from the water fountain. 

The third girl told police that Taylor walked up behind her and brushed against her inappropriately when she was 13-years-old. She, too, reported that he would kiss her when she stood up from the water fountain.

Administrators at the Columbia campus of the Maryland School for the Deaf would not comment. A statement from the school superintendent's office, at the schools Frederick campus, read:

This is an ongoing investigation being handled by the Howard County Police, and MSD [Maryland School for the Deaf] is not at liberty to comment about this case.

Taylor has been suspended from his current job as a teachers’ aide at the school, according to police. 

He was arrested Thursday without incident at his home, according to police and was charged with three felony counts of sexual abuse of a minor. 

Police ask anyone with information, or any additional victims, to detectives at 410-313-3200.

This article has been updated with comments from the Maryland School for the Deaf.