S. Christopher Anderson, a tenured professor at Ohio State, was fired Friday by the Board of Trustees for an alleged sexual relationship with a minor. Anderson worked for 20 years as an OSU extension agent in Lancaster, Ohio, and planned to retire within the next three months. He was indicted in Fairfield County on four felony charges of sexual battery and 14 misdemeanor charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The charges come in the wake of an incident in which Anderson and the girl were found in a car in the parking lot of the OSU extension office at night after attending a fair. Anderson admitted that his pants had a button unfastened, but said that was because he had eaten too much. The two were in the car, he said, because the girl asked him to talk. The minor, who is from Lancaster, is 18 years old. She met Anderson two years ago through the Fairfield County 4-H program. Anderson directs the program, which is the largest in the world.’I have worked with probably 50,000 kids over the years and no one has ever complained,’ Anderson said.Shortly after they met, Anderson said the girl, who was then 16, asked him if they could talk. Then she told him she was suicidal, he said.This began the relationship, in which he said he listened to her and tried to ask her to seek help. OSU officials said Anderson ‘engaged in grossly inappropriate behaviors in his interactions,’ The Columbus Dispatch reported.Anderson and his wife, Donna, said they were shocked when he was fired. His wife said she did not believe the charges.’If he had done anything wrong, I would have known it. I wouldn’t be here,’ she said.Alex Shumate, OSU’s chairman of the Board of Trustees could not be reached for comment. William Napier, secretary to the board, was out of town and unavailable for comment.Anderson said the emotional stress of the allegations has been overwhelming. He was admitted to the OSU Medical Center’s emergency room in September 1996 for what he said was ‘transference of depression and stress.’ The stress resulted from his concern regarding the minor’s problems, he said.’I am innocent of everything except saving a woman’s life. Our institutions have made it very clear: Don’t care about suicidal teens because saving a teen’s life can cost you as much as killing one,’ he said.In June 1996, the girl called Anderson at 1:10 a.m. crying and talking of suicide, he said. He spoke with her for about 15 minutes and then called 911. A sheriff’s deputy took the girl to the emergency room.The Andersons said they were close to the girl and were ordered to not have contact with her in October, 1996 in a letter from the College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.