Buz Lukens

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Donald Edgar "Buz" Lukens (born February 11, 1931) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio.

Lukens was born in Harveysburg, Ohio. He attended schools in Harveysburg and graduated from high school in Waynesville, Ohio. He earned a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio in 1954. After finishing college, Lukens joined the U.S. Air Force, reaching the rank of captain after six-and-a-half years of active duty. Remaining a member of the Air Force Reserve, in 1961 Lukens accepted a job as minority counsel for the Republican staff of the House Rules Committee.

In 1966, Lukens won a seat in the United States House of Representatives, defeating Democrat James H. Pelley. He began serving in the House in 1967 (90th Congress). In 1968, Lukens won re-election, defeating Democrat Lloyd D. Miller. Lukens chose not to run again for the House seat in 1970. Instead, he made a run for Governor of Ohio. However, Lukens lost the Republican primary to Roger Cloud, who went on to lose the general election to Democrat John J. Gilligan.

Lukens then was elected to the Ohio State Senate, serving from 1971 to 1986. In 1986, incumbent U.S. Representative Tom Kindness did not stand for re-election for his seat (Kindness unsuccessfully tried to unseat incumbent U.S. Senator John Glenn). Lukens ran to replace Kindness and defeated perennial Democratic candidate John W. Griffin. Lukens started serving this term in 1987 (101st Congress). In 1988, Lukens won re-election, defeating Griffin once again.

On February 1, 1989, an Ohio television station caught Lukens on camera at a Columbus, Ohio, McDonalds restaurant talking with Anna Coffman, the mother of Rosie Coffman, a teenage African-American girl. During the conversation he openly discussed having sexual relations with Rosie. Soon afterward, a grand jury brought charges against him of contributing to the delinquency of a minor because of allegations that he paid Rosie $40 and gifts in exchange for sex when she was sixteen years old. Further allegations had been made that the relationship with Coffman began when she was thirteen, but a grand jury declined to pursue further charges against Lukens beyond a single charge of "contributing to the delinquency of a minor".

On May 26, 1989, a jury in the Franklin County Juvenile Court convicted Lukens of the misdemeanor crime of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for the paying of $40 to Coffman for sex in his Columbus apartment on November 6, 1988. A friend of Coffman's, a 19-year-old, accompanied her that day, but was not directly involved.

Though Ohio's age of consent is sixteen, Lukens' conviction was under a misdemeanor statute that states that "no person shall...aid, abet, induce, cause, encourage or contribute to a child or ward of the juvenile court (into) becoming an unruly or (delinquent) child."[1]

Lukens made an unsuccessful appeal to the Franklin County Court of Appeals. Of particular contention, Rosie Coffman had a considerable juvenile delinquency record (which included curfew violations, running away and petty theft), but this record (as well as a psychiatric report) were ruled inadmissible. She lived with her mother, but was a ward of the Juvenile Court. Lukens' defense was that the juvenile record would show that Ms. Coffman was already a delinquent and not a reliable witness. The reliability of her testimony was already under attack, as there were significant testimony inconsistencies, a fact conceded by County Prosecutor Michael Miller.[2][3]

Refusing to resign from his seat, despite the demands of the Republican leadership, Lukens lost the 1990 Republican primary to John A. Boehner.

While serving out the remaining months of his congressional term, a Capitol elevator operator accused him of fondling her. He was ordered to serve 30 days in jail and see a psychologist, as well as be tested for venereal diseases. He served nine days in jail.[citation needed].

Lukens resigned from Congress on October 24, 1990.[4]

In 1995, the task force investigating the House banking scandal charged him with five counts of bribery and conspiracy related to actions he took while in Congress. He was convicted in March 1996 after a second trial[citation needed].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Text from Columbus Dispatch, February 24, 1989, Page 2A. This language is still found in Ohio Revised Code, Section 2919.24.
  2. ^ Dispatch, 2/24/89.
  3. ^ "The appeals court discounted Tyack's (Lukens's attorney) contention that it was not possible to "cause or contribute" to a child becoming unruly if the child was already unruly. Using an analogy, the court found that a person found guilty of polluting a river may not be the primary polluter but is still responsible for "contributing" to the pollution." (Columbus Dispatch, "Court Upholds sex conviction in Lukens case", June 13, 1990, Page 1A.)
  4. ^ Rudin, Ken. "The Equal-Opportunity Culture of Corruption", NPR.org, 2007-06-06. Retrieved on 2007-07-29. 

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Political offices
Preceded by
New district		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Ohio's 24th congressional district
January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1971		 Succeeded by
Walter E. Powell
Preceded by
Tom Kindness		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Ohio's 8th congressional district
January 3, 1987 – October 24, 1990		 Succeeded by
John Boehner
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