The jury continues to deliberate in the trial of John Null Gawron after closing arguments Thursday. A verdict may be delivered today. T-L Photos/ROBERT A. DEFRANK

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The jury heard final testimony and closing arguments Thursday in the case of accused sex offender John Null Gawron, but after more than three hours of deliberation they returned no verdict.

The jury will continue to discuss the evidence and testimony today.

Gawron, 33, who lived on Markatan Street in Flushing prior to his 2018 arrest, is accused of: one count of rape, a first-degree felony; one count of pandering sexually-oriented material involving a minor, a second-degree felony; and 10 counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance, a fifth-degree felony. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life without parole.

Charges stem from an investigation and a month-long manhunt covering multiple states in 2018 for Gawron’s then-roommates, Wesley Alan Burdge and Tabitha Gallagher.

On Oct. 11, 2018, detectives served a search warrant at the Flushing residence while investigating Gawron. The Internet Crimes Against Children Division of the Belmont County Major Crimes Unit had received alleged evidence from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children indicating he had been sharing child pornography on the internet.

While Gawron was arrested, Burdge and Gallagher fled with their children, then ages 1 and 5. The pair was later arrested. Burdge was sentenced last year to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of pandering sexually-oriented matter involving a minor.

Gallagher pleaded guilty to attempted obstruction of justice and was sentenced in June to one-and-a-half years in prison.

On Thursday, the jury continued to hear testimony from Detective Doug Cruse of the Belmont County Sheriff’s Department, who spoke about the investigation and his interview with Gawron.

Cruse said law enforcement began looking into Gawron and Burdge after Tumblr began flagging images as inappropriate and reported them to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He said the user identification for the individual apparently sharing material belonged to Gawron. Cruse said images downloaded from Tumblr were on computers seized from the Flushing residence.

The prosecution referred to the location of images and videos used as evidence.

“Were those (files) all pulled from Exhibit One, the laptop you had retrieved from Mr. Gawron’s room?” Belmont County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan asked. Cruse said they were.

Gawron’s attorney, Steve Stickles, has argued the computer had belonged to Burdge, who had given it to Gawron.

The video interview of Gawron by Cruse included questions regarding the alleged rape of a 5-year-old boy. A video reportedly was caught on a hidden camera Burdge apparently had set up. Stickles has said no actual sex acts were captured. In the interview, Gawron said he had been drinking heavily around that time and did not remember the events.