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Bergen County prosecutors said they will seek a new trial against Louis Tantillo, 55, following the mistrial.
The jury of eight men and four women began deliberating Tuesday morning. Early Wednesday, they told Superior Court Judge Robert M. Vinci they didn't think they could reach the required unanimous decision.
After a few more hours of deliberations, the judge accepted the deadlock.
This comes after judges previously dismissed two indictments against Tantillo, citing the inability of the alleged victim, now 21, to specify when she contends the assault occurred.
She testified during the two-week trial that they occurred during a sleepover with Tantillo’s daughter sometime between June and September 2009, when she was 11.
The case emerged five years later, after authorities said she confided in a counselor who, in turn, called her mother and state child welfare workers.
After two failed attempts at prosecuting Tantillo in 2014 and 2016, prosecutors obtained a third indictment from a grand jury in Hackensack in December 2017.
Refusing a plea deal, Tantillo relied, in part, on the argument that the time period is too broad. His lawyer also said prosecutors lack sufficient evidence.
Tantillo’s wife and daughter were among those who testified in his defense.
Vinci scheduled a court hearing for March 23 to deal with how both sides will proceed.
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