ST. CLAIRSVILLE - An Indiana man remains behind bars after being accused of conducting an unlawful sexual relationship with a 13-year-old Belmont County teenage female.
Kevin Farr, 41, of 7874 N. 300 E. St., North Manchester, took the witness stand during a motion hearing on Monday in the courtroom of Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Sargus.
Through his attorney, Public Defendant Frank Pierce, Farr had filed a motion to suppress evidence, mainly a recorded interview made at the Wabash County, Indiana, Sheriff's Office in November of 2009.
Farr is accused of conducting a relationship with the girl via the Internet and then making a six-hour trek to the Ohio Valley to meet the teen. They allegedly traveled to Zanesville and obtained a hotel room where they had sexual intercourse.
Farr then told the girl that she couldn't return to Indiana with him and he left her, instructing her to tell authorities she was a runaway.
Eventually, Zanesville and Belmont County officials interviewed the teen, determining she had been involved in a relationship with the older man who is married with four children.
During proceedings, Assistant Prosecutor Helen Yonak questioned Det. Ryan Allar of the Belmont County Sheriff Office's regarding a search warrant and Farr's questioning when the case first materialized.
"When you went to his home, what was his reaction?" Yonak asked.
"He was despondent," Allar said. "He slumped forward in his chairkind of sad and defeated."
Allar went on to explain that Farr was not arrested but he was read his rights prior to being transported to the Wabash County Sheriff's Office where he was questioned. The detective said he didn't realize that Farr had said he wanted an attorney until he listened to the tape of the interview.
"I was talking and asking questions when he said he wanted to talk to an attorney," Allar said. "I didn't understand him at the time but you can hear him on the tape."
Wabash County Sheriff Det. Mike Davis gave similar testimony saying Farr never really asked for an attorney.
"The only time he mentioned an attorney was when we said we would get a search warrant for his car," Davis said. "He didn't grant us permission to search the car without first talking to an attorney."
However, both law enforcement officials said Farr talked during the interview and was free to leave at any time.
"We told him several times that he was free to leave," Allar said.
The defendant presented a different picture in his testimony saying he was afraid and felt threatened.
"They told me I could make it a big deal or not," Farr told his attorney. "They said if I didn't talk to them then the FBI would get involved and then we could go that route. They said it was better that I talk to them instead of the feds."
Farr also contended that he believed he couldn't leave the room he was in during the interview.
"I heard the door lock when they would leave the room," the former police officer said. "I didn't know I could leave."
Judge Sargus said she would review the taped interview and make a ruling on the motion.
In January, he most recently requested a recognizance bond which was denied. He is being held in the Belmont County Jail on $18,000 bond where he has been incarcerated there since being indicted in November of last year.
Yonak said Farr faces up to five years in jail on the third-degree felony charge of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. The importuning charge is a fifth-degree felony, and it carries a possible prison sentence of 12 months.