Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, November 16, 1993                   TAG: 9311160131
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

BOBBITT SAYS HE FORGIVES HIS WIFE

Bobbitt, in his first media interview since the June 23 attack, said he was the one abused in the couple's four-year marriage, which saw two separations and two reconciliations.

Bobbitt, who was acquitted of charges of marital sexual abuse by a jury last week, said his wife, Lorena, would hit him "if something didn't go her way. She was always the volatile one."

John Bobbitt, 26, spoke to the syndicated TV program "American Journal" in an interview scheduled for broadcast Monday and today.

Lorena Bobbitt, 24, of Manassas claims her husband repeatedly abused her, and that she cut off his penis after he forced her to have sex. Two days before, Lorena Bobbitt asked about court protection from her husband but left without going to a judge, a court counselor testified at John Bobbitt's trial.

Lorena Bobbitt is considering a temporary insanity plea at her malicious wounding trial, scheduled for Nov. 29.

John Bobbitt, a part-time laborer and bar bouncer, said he forgives his wife.

"I think about her. I'm not angry with her," he said. "I feel what she did was wrong, but I'm a very forgiveful person."

The couple has filed for divorce, but John Bobbitt said a reconciliation wasn't impossible.

"It depends. It would take a lot to get us back together, as far as counseling, you know, working things out," he said.

John Bobbitt's penis was found by police on a grassy corner after Lorena Bobbitt tossed it from her car. It was reattached during a 9 1/2-hour operation, and doctors have said he may gain full use of the organ within two years.

John Bobbitt said he is still in pain. "Sometimes it's pins and needles, and sometimes it hurts, because, you know, it's rejuvenating," he said. "Right now, it's not, you know . . . not much I can do with it."

He said that at first he didn't realize his wife had sliced off his penis. "I thought she just ripped it off my body with her hand," he said.

The interview was filmed before his trial, said "American Journal" spokeswoman Julie Farin.

During the trial, John Bobbitt's attorney, Gregory Murphy, said Lorena Bobbitt was chiefly concerned with making money from her story. He noted she had granted two interviews, while - he said - John Bobbitt had not.

Farin would not say whether John Bobbitt was paid for the interview.

John Bobbitt acknowledged during the trial that he kept a list of women with whom he had sex. During the interview, he said they were affairs he had while he and his wife were separated. He said he saw two women in the final months of his marriage but didn't have sex with them.

"I didn't realize at the time I was being unfaithful," he said. "I mean, my wife didn't know I was seeing those girls, those two girls."

John Bobbitt faces a paternity lawsuit filed by a woman in his hometown of Niagara Falls, N.Y. A trial on that claim is scheduled Nov. 23.