ILLINOIS LAWYER CHARGED IN SEX ACTS WITH TWO JUVENILES

PERRYVILLE -- A Kaskaskia Island, Ill., attorney has been charged with indecent exposure, sodomy and invasion of privacy in connection with the sexual abuse of two juveniles, the state Attorney General's office said.

Alan D. Picou, 35, was arraigned Tuesday at the Perry County Courthouse on five felony charges and a misdemeanor. He has been charged with three counts of sexual misconduct involving a child by indecent exposure, first-degree statutory sodomy, first-degree attempted statutory sodomy and invasion of privacy.

The charges stem from a Highway Patrol investigation into activities that Picou is alleged to have committed with two juveniles between Sept. 1, 1997 and April 30, 1998, said Rachel Smith, assistant attorney general.

However, interviews with witnesses indicate that sexual crimes may have been committed against other juveniles, Smith said.

In interviews with a 13-year-old boy, Smith was told that Picou had purchased soda, candy, cigarettes and a bicycle before their relationship became sexual.

The boy told Smith that Picou had exposed himself and later performed sexual acts on himself and the boy over a period of several months.

While Picou lived in Perryville, the boy said he had discovered a videotape showing another juvenile in the bathroom of the residence from the waist down. The boy went to Pecou's bathroom and found a video camera mounted above the ceiling tiles , Smith said.

The other juvenile told investigators he was unaware of the video camera's presence.

Testimony from a 17-year-old boy also alleges sexual misconduct by Picou during the summer of 1998, an investigator said.

Picou is in custody in the Ste. Genevieve County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bond.

The charges of indecent exposure are class D felonies, punishable by one to five years in prison. The sodomy charges are unclassed felonies, which may be punished by five years to life imprisonment. Invasion of privacy is a class A misdemeanor.