SALISBURY, Md.- A child abuse case against a Wicomico High School football coach has ended with a hung jury.
A Wicomico County Circuit Court jury deliberated for more than five hours Thursday but could not reach a verdict in the case of David Nettles.
Nettles denied allegations that he had inappropriately touched his 29-year-old accuser with deep tissue muscle massages when the man was a teenager. Nettles' lawyer Thomas Yeager said his client had cooperated with investigators from the start and that it did not make sense that his client would have abused a child in a place where other people were present.
Yeager said Nettles continues to maintain his innocence. In closing arguments Thursday, he told jurors, "All you have to do is have reasonable doubt. I have pointed out many holes in this case."
Nettles, who was Wi-Hi's head football coach for eight seasons, was arrested in February 2011 and charged with abusing two children between 1997 and 2001. In September, in the first of two trials, a jury found him not guilty of third-degree sex offense.
Nettles said he has been suspended but not fired from his football coaching job at Wi-Hi.
The Wicomico County State's Attorney's Office said there is a good chance it will re-try the case.
