Jury convicts Chicago Congressman Mel Reynolds on four counts in sex abuse trial

Jet, Sept 11, 1995

Rep. Mel Reynolds recently was convicted of having sex with an underage former campaign volunteer and then trying to obstruct the investigation.

The jury convicted the 43-year-old Chicago Democrat on the strength of the explicit phone conversations he had with Beverly Heard, the accuser, and the implausible explanation he offered on the witness stand.

Reynolds was convicted of criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, obstruction of justice and child pornography.

Heard spent 13 nights in jail for refusing to testify before she told the jury she had a consensual sexual affair with Reynolds beginning in 1992 when she was 16 and 17. The 19-year-old accuser said she didn't think he deserved prison time and asked the jury to find him innocent.

Reynolds, a Rhodes scholar who rose from a poor childhood in rural Mississippi to earn a law degree at Oxford, must serve at least some prison time although how much was unclear. He remained free on a personal recognizance bond. No sentencing date was set at JET press time.

The rising Capitol Hill star said he was the target of a racially biased, politically motivated prosecution.

The panel was evenly split along racial lines--four Black women and two Black men and five White men and one White woman.

The conviction does not automatically remove Reynolds from his House seat. The House Ethics Committee will open its own investigation and could recommend that he be expelled, censured or reprimanded. The panel's advice is not binding on the full House.

Reynolds' next court date is Sept. 12 for post-trial arguments. Ed Genson, Reynolds' attorney, said he planned to appeal.

At JET press time, Reynolds hadn't decided whether he would resign or not. If he does resign it will entail a two-step process, according to the office of the House parliamentarian.

The first step would be a letter of resignation to House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA). The second would be a resignation letter to Gov. Jim Edgar, who would declare the district's seat vacant.

Since Reynolds was found guilty, Heard has appeared on several talk shows including "Good Morning America."

Dori Wilson, Heard's publicist, said there are plans to establish the Beverly Heard Education Fund and that they will entertain book and movie deals, although Heard says she has not yet been approached about any such offers.

"I desperately want to go back to school. I'm looking at speech or drama or something in the medical field. I want to be near my mom and live close to her," Heard stated in the Chicago Sun-Times.