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	Ex-youth Pastor Gets 40 Years (Video) By Mark Caudill News Journal September 4, 2009 http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20090904/NEWS01/909040312 Watch http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20090904/NEWS01/909040312 MANSFIELD -- John Picard was sentenced Thursday to 40 years in prison for sexual battery, with no possibility of parole. One of his victims, a 35-year-old woman, turned to Picard at the Richland County Common Pleas hearing, and said, "You picked on me because I was not strong. "Despite your efforts to destroy and devour me -- here I am." Picard, 41, of Englewood, was convicted on all 42 counts of sexual battery at the end of a six-day trial. The former youth pastor at Grace Brethren Church on Marion Avenue used coercion to form sexual relationships with six female parishioners. In handing down the sentence, Judge James Henson told Picard, "You have failed to acknowledge your criminal conduct, and you have shown no real remorse." Picard's hold was a strong one. He wielded control over some of the victims from their teens to adulthood, in some cases even after marriage. Sporting the beginnings of a scruffy beard, his hands and feet in shackles, Picard had a distant look in his eyes for most of the hearing. Defense attorney James Banks asked Henson to consider probation. "Certainly, the incidents that happened were unfortunate for the victims. However, the court should take note that while he was out on bond, he was supervised for a little over a year with no problems," Banks argued. "Should you consider (probation), I am sure you would not have a problem with him." Picard elected to say nothing. The 35-year-old woman was the first victim to address the court. Most of her words were for Picard. "God has a name for you -- it is savage wolf. You did not save the flock. You devoured us for your own pleasure," she said. "You came to our church as a predator. One year and you were already devouring one of the sheep. Marion Avenue Grace Brethren Church proved to be the perfect den for you." The woman saved some of her most powerful words for Henson. "My hope is that you will show no mercy because he showed no mercy," she said. "The only way he should get out of prison is in a pine box. I ask that you do for me what I could not do for myself -- protect me from him." A 30-year-old woman had victim advocate Chantee Wilson read a letter she'd written. "What has been done by the man is an abomination to God," the letter read. The woman wrote that she believes Picard is a danger to the community. Her mother briefly spoke, too. "As a parent, I feel like he stole my child from me," she said through tears. Assistant Prosecutor Bambi Couch-Page recommended a 40-year sentence. "Our original (plea bargain) offer was 30 years," she said. "I wanted additional punishment because two of the victims testified they were victimized as juveniles. "This person is not in the rehabilitation category. This person is clearly a sexual predator." Contact: mcaudill@nncogannett.com or 419-521-7219
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