ROGER ROBERTSON Testimony continues in the trial of Roger Wayne Robertson of Coulterville. Roberston is charged with sex crimes against a woman who was a member of his congregation.

On Tuesday, Robertson himself took the stand and painted quite a different picture than the victim did of the incident. He went as far as saying the woman had actually attacked him in his church.

Robertson admitted to serving time in the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) after he violated terms of probation in the 1970s. “When I got to CRC,” he said, “I had no addiction. Before I got there I got delivered from drugs.”

Robertson said when he got out of CRC, he decided he “was going to show everybody what God could do.” He denied ever picking up the woman who accused him of sexual assault. He pleaded no contest to a battery charge in that case because he said he was advised to do so by his lawyer and was “afraid.”

The jury was removed from the room for a while, at which time, Robertson became very animated. “I’m being tried for something I got cleared of 37 years ago,” he said with a shaking voice and raised hands.

As to the current case, Robertson said he never called his alleged victim and asked her to come to work, as she had testified. He said he contacted her son to help him get into a recovery home. He said the young man told him that they were coming to the church to clean.

Robertson said he told the young man, “I don’t need you to come clean. Go get a job.” He then hung up the phone. According to Robertson, they came to his home and church anyway.

Robertson testified that he gave the young man a vaccuum cleaner when they arrived, even though there was no work. “He asked for a vaccumm, so I gave it to him,” the pastor said. “If I hand someone a vaccuum, they don’t have to use it.”

He and the woman then walked into the church, with her following and closing the door behind them.

“I never had no one, particularly a woman, grab me like that,” Robertson said of what happened next. “I said, ‘stop it.’ I was shocked.” He said he walked toward the front of the church and sat down and prayed. “I turned around, and this woman is taking off her clothes,” he cried to the jury. “I don’t care if you believe me or not.”

Robertson said he told the woman’s son to take her home, but still gave him a broom so she could sweep. They prayed together

Last week, the five-man, seven-woman jury heard testimony from the victim. Following that, prosecutors played pre-text calls that the alleged victim placed to Robertson following the Oct. 12, 2009, incident. The calls were set up and recorded by Mariposa County Sheriff’s deputies as part of the invesigation into the allegations.

Mariposa County Detective Joe Serena testified that he had helped the victim, who doesn’t speak English, learn some basic words to help facilitate the calls.

Serena said that after the woman placed the first pretext call, another call came in from Robertson. “We were not expecting an incoming call,” Serena told the jury. As a result, Serena and another deputy scrambled to try to record it. They only got a portion of the second call, so the woman called Robertson back.

According to the transcripts of the calls, which were in English and Spanish, Robertson stops short of admitting any specific wrongdoing, but repeatedly referenced only Jesus knowing what they were talking about.

The woman told Robertson in one call that she was very sad and worried. The man on the other end of the line said, “So, nobody know, amen.” The woman asked “what” in Spanish. His reply was “Only Jesus know, alright?”

The woman told him that Jesus didn’t like him. The man replied, “Yeah, he forgive. Jesus say forget, forgive, let go, let God.” The woman repeatedly told him in broken English not to touch her anymore.

He further indicated that he had a personal conversation with Jesus. “I bend my knee, I say forgive. He say okay.” He invited her back to church, but indicated that she should keep her accusations to herself. “Yeah, you come, but more say, no more do,” Robertson said to her. “Okay, Jesus say forgive, forget, let go.”

During his testimony, Robertson explained. “I have to forgive you,” he said. “If I don’t forgive you, I can’t go to heaven. There is unforgiven forgiveness. You have to forgive to be forgiven.”

Testimony continues in Mariposa County Superior Court this week.