State v. Picard

2017 Ohio 7600
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 11, 2017
Docket17CA28
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2017 Ohio 7600 (State v. Picard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Picard, 2017 Ohio 7600 (Ohio Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

[Cite as State v. Picard, 2017-Ohio-7600.]

COURT OF APPEALS RICHLAND COUNTY, OHIO FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

STATE OF OHIO : JUDGES: : : Hon. Patricia A. Delaney, P.J. Plaintiff-Appellee : Hon. W. Scott Gwin, J. : Hon. William B. Hoffman, J. -vs- : : Case No. 17 CA 28 : JOHN S. PICARD : : : Defendant-Appellant : OPINION

CHARACTER OF PROCEEDING: Appeal from the Richland County Court of Common Pleas, Case Nos. 2008-CR- 0545, 2009-CR-0111

JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED

DATE OF JUDGMENT ENTRY: September 11, 2017

APPEARANCES:

For Plaintiff-Appellee: For Defendant-Appellant:

GARY BISHOP JOHN S. PICARD, Pro Se RICHLAND COUNTY PROSECUTOR Inmate No. A572767 Belmont Correctional Institution JOSEPH C. SNYDER 68518 Bannok Uniontown Rd. 38 South Park Street St. Clairsville, OH 43950 Mansfield, OH 44902 Richland County, Case No. 17CA28 2

Delaney, P.J.

{¶1} Defendant-Appellant John S. Picard appeals the February 28, 2017 nunc

pro tunc sentencing entry of the Richland County Court of Common Pleas.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

{¶2} The facts as set forth in appellant's previous appeals are as follows:

{¶3} In 1990, appellant was hired as the youth pastor at the Marion Avenue

Grace Brethren Church in Mansfield, Ohio. In his position at the church, appellant and his

wife Sherry had regular contact with teenage girls and young adult females in the church.

{¶4} Appellant formed close relationships with several of the girls in the youth

group, distancing these girls from their family and friends. He referred to this smaller group

as “the family,” which was made up of appellant and his wife, several of the girls in the

youth group, and eventually the girls' husbands as the girls grew older and married. As

the leader, appellant controlled nearly every aspect of their lives. Appellant influenced

where the girls lived, who they dated or married, and what cars they purchased. Appellant

spoke of having a large piece of land where the “family” could live in a large house with

separate wings, sharing a common kitchen and dining area.

{¶5} H.G. began attending the Marion Avenue Church when she was twelve

years old and moved in with her great aunt and uncle after her parents died. She began

babysitting appellant's children when she was sixteen. When she was sixteen, she and

appellant began kissing and fondling. One night, after eating dinner with appellant's

family, H.G. went to the basement with appellant to spot him while he was working out.

Appellant had H.G. perform oral sex on him. Appellant explained to H.G. that it wasn't

sinful because it wasn't sex. On another occasion, appellant and H.G. were naked in the Richland County, Case No. 17CA28 3

bedroom of appellant's home. Appellant digitally penetrated H.G.'s vagina, but appellant's

son walked in before the encounter could go any further. H.G. left the area when she

turned eighteen, but saw appellant one last time thereafter. Appellant drove her out into

the country where they kissed and fondled each other, and H.G. performed oral sex on

appellant.

{¶6} S.S. began attending Marion Avenue Church in her sophomore year of high

school. Her mother had divorced for a second time, and she had to move in with her

father. While involved with the youth group, S.S. would run errands with appellant. On

one occasion they went for a motorcycle ride. Appellant reached between S.S.'s legs,

claiming he was switching to an alternate gas tank. Like H.G., S.S. babysat appellant's

children. On one occasion, appellant asked S.S. to stop at his house after a New Year's

Eve party. When she arrived, the house was dark. Appellant took her into the bedroom,

kissed her, pulled down her pants and touched her genital area. He asked her to say,

“Fuck me.” Tr. 215. She became afraid because she had never seen appellant behave in

such a harsh manner. She ultimately said what he asked her to say, although no

penetration occurred. On Sundays after church appellant began taking S.S. by the hand

and leading her to his office, where they would kiss and stroke each other. Appellant told

her that being a youth pastor was difficult and he was frequently under attack, and this

was a form of comfort his wife could not give him.

{¶7} During the summer of 2004, S.S. accompanied the youth group on a

mission trip. While taking the garbage to the dumpster with appellant, he unzipped his

pants and guided her head to his penis, asking her to put his penis in her mouth. He Richland County, Case No. 17CA28 4

instructed her to perform oral sex on him in the back of a truck at a later time on the same

mission trip. He told S.S. that this was something his wife could not do for him.

{¶8} S.W. was an only child from what she considered a normal family. However,

as she became more involved with appellant and Sherry through the youth group, her

relationship with her parents deteriorated. In the fall of 1995, appellant asked S.W. to kiss

him. By 1996, S.W. considered appellant to be her best friend. Appellant told her that best

friends engage in sexual acts with each other, claiming that the Bible states that Jonathan

and David were best friends who engaged in sexual behavior together. He also told S .W.

that when the Bible says a pastor should be a one-woman man, that just means he can't

be with two women at the same time. He explained to her that his job was very taxing,

and he needed her to fill him back up. Around 1996 or 1997, he asked S.W. to perform

oral sex on him in the kitchen of his home. For the next ten years, she regularly engaged

in oral sex and sexual intercourse with appellant. He told her it would be a worse sin for

her not to have sex with him than it would be to have sex with him, because God was

protecting their relationship. Sometimes when S.W. did not want to have sex with

appellant she cried, and appellant told her he liked it when she cried.

{¶9} G.R. attended the youth group at the Marion Avenue Church. She had been

sexually abused by her father. G.R. also babysat for appellant and Sherry. When G.R.

was 13 and appellant was driving her home after babysitting, he pulled into a wooded

area and asked her to perform oral sex on him. Appellant told her that he believed God

put her in his life for this special relationship because there were things Sherry could not

do for him. Appellant and G.R. began engaging in oral sex and sexual intercourse on a

weekly basis when she babysat for his children. Sometimes in his office in the church he Richland County, Case No. 17CA28 5

would place her on his lap, rub her breasts and her genital area, and have her rub his

genitals. During a game of hide and seek at a youth group overnighter at the church,

appellant found G.R. hiding in the baptismal. He had G.R. perform oral sex on him in the

baptismal. He told G.R. that he had consulted the Holy Spirit and had received peace that

his relationship with G.R. was right. He told her that giving him oral sex was her God-

given role as his comforter.

{¶10} J.F. is G.R.'s step-sister. Between the ages of 18 and 20, she began giving

appellant oral sex in his office and in a storage room at the church. In April of 1999, when

J.F. was 20 years old, she began engaging in sexual intercourse with appellant. After she

moved into her own apartment in October, 2001, she and appellant engaged in sex once

or twice a week.

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Related

State v. Picard
2025 Ohio 2700 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2025)

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