THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, September 23, 1994             TAG: 9409230581
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: LAS VEGAS                          LENGTH: Short :   48 lines

EX-NAVY OFFICER TELLS JURY OF BEING ASSAULTED AT TAILHOOK

A former Navy officer sobbed as she told of being sexually assaulted by fellow officers at the 1991 Tailhook convention.

Kim Ponikowski, her testimony often inaudible, told a federal court jury that several men grabbed her breasts and legs as she tried to make her way along a third-floor hallway at the Las Vegas Hilton to a suite her squadron had rented.

``It was so sick,'' Ponikowski said, her voice shaking. ``It was so sick.''

Ponikowski said she swung at a man who was grabbing her breasts, striking him in the face.

``Everyone in the hallway just booed. It was so unnatural, so bizarre.''

Another man then pinned her hands behind her back, Ponikowski testified. ``There were hands all over my body,'' she said. ``My mind just kind of shut off. Then I was standing alone.''

Ponikowski's testimony came Thursday in the federal trial of a lawsuit filed by former admiral's aide Paula Coughlin, who blew the whistle on military aviators' bawdy behavior at the convention.

Coughlin is among about 90 women who claim they were groped and fondled on the convention's final night. A dozen women have filed lawsuits in state and district court here.

Coughlin, who has yet to testify, is suing the Las Vegas Hilton and Hilton Hotel Corp. for an unspecified amount, claiming they should have provided security to prevent the attack. She reached a settlement with the Tailhook Association earlier this month for an undisclosed sum.

Ponikowski, 26, of Vero Beach, Fla., is one of those suing the Las Vegas Hilton and the San Diego-based Tailhook Association.

She testified she saw no unusual activity on the third floor the first two nights of the event; then on the final night, she went looking for friends at her squadron's suite.

As she left the elevator, she noticed men lined up along the walls of the hallway.

KEYWORDS: TAILHOOK U.S. NAVY SEXUAL HARASSMENT

ASSAULT TRIAL by CNB