BishopAccountability.org
	Tape: Picard Wanted Affair to Stay Secret By Mark Caudill News Journal August 25, 2009 http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20090825/NEWS01/908250307 MANSFIELD — John Picard encouraged one of his alleged victims to keep their relationship a secret in a taped phone call. Jurors listened to the recording Monday during the third day of Picard's sexual battery trial. Police had one of the alleged victims, now 29, call Picard in July 2008 in hopes he would incriminate himself. Picard was arrested a week later. In the phone call, the woman said she let details of their relationship slip during counseling sessions with her psychologist. She was Monday's only witness, testifying for five hours. The woman said she started performing sex acts on Picard when she was 13. She claimed their sexual relationship continued for about 15 years, including while she was married. The woman said she had a daughter by Picard in 2004 and had a long-term sexual relationship with Picard's wife until her pregnancy. In the phone call, the woman asked Picard if their relationship was wrong. "It wasn't wrong, all right? We have been given to each other. I'm persuaded of it," Picard replied. "Long-term, we've been given to each other." Picard told the woman her therapist was not her friend and that no one would understand their relationship. "She (psychologist) takes your guard down. Now that's fine," Picard said. "That's not a problem except for this one area that we really must protect. OK?" Picard told the woman he could cite numerous examples of intimate physical contact in the Bible. "I have never considered our relationship inappropriate. Never," he said. "It's never done in a manner that is to abuse you or to take advantage of you. "All it's done is try to love and support and encourage and let you know there's somebody there for you. OK?" The former youth pastor told the woman many of their encounters weren't sexual; they were a source of comfort. Before the woman testified, Richland County Common Pleas Judge James Henson advised her of her rights because of a possible criminal case against her. "You're under investigation for what could be considered criminal activity," the judge said. Defense attorney James Banks repeatedly asked the woman about her case. He pointed out she was charged with falsification and obstruction of justice in November 2007. The charges were later dismissed. The woman said prosecutors did not guarantee she would avoid charges if she cooperated. Banks asked her about a fire at one of her former residences. "I plead the Fifth (Amendment)," she said, referring to her right to avoid self-incrimination. The woman cited the Fifth Amendment each time Banks asked her about the fire. She also frequently said she couldn't recall parts of the statement she gave police in July 2008. "There's not a lot I recall," the 29-year-old said. "At that time, I was not very well. Three weeks prior to this (July 2008 statement) I had made a suicide attempt." In questioning from Assistant Prosecutor Bambi Couch-Page, the woman said she was never in love with Picard and didn't consider their relationship an affair. "What I believe is that as a 13-year-old girl, he groomed me to be what he wanted me to be," she said. "Because I was so young, I was easily influenced. From that point on, it grew. "Anything John said, I would have done. Anything." Contact: mcaudill@nncogannett.com or 419-521-7219.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.