THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 23, 1996 TAG: 9602230480
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAVID M. POOLE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
Suffolk Del. Robert E. Nelms said Thursday he was answering nature's call during a stroll in a city park when a police officer charged him with indecent exposure.
``I don't feel like I've broken any laws,'' Nelms said of the Feb. 15 incident. ``I didn't do anything that any other guy hasn't done in the woods.''
Nelms said he was unaware of Byrd Park's reputation as a notorious spot for illicit sexual activity.
Nelms was robbed at gunpoint in the same park four years ago, during his first term in office. Nelms said he felt no trepidation in returning to the scene of the mugging alone and at twilight, even though some colleagues had advised him to stay away from the park.
``I grew up taught that you have to get back on a horse. You can't let fear rule your life.''
Nelms has been summoned to appear in Richmond General District Court March 25.
In Suffolk, the charge against Nelms was the buzz Thursday at Bunny's Family Restaurant, a local institution known for its fried chicken, Smithfield ham and gossip.
``I thought it was terrible,'' said owner Elizabeth ``Bunny'' Hingerty, who has known Nelms since he was a boy.
The Nelms family is woven into the fabric of this city of 54,000. His uncle, J.W. Nelms, was once mayor.
Nelms, his wife, Diane, and their son attend Main Street United Methodist Church. Nelms is an usher and once invited Pastor Alan R. Felumlee to give the invocation in the House of Delegates.
``We're innocent until proven guilty,'' Felumlee said. ``I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt until I talk to them.''
Suffolk Federation of Civic Leagues president Talmadge C. Jones voted for Nelms, but he questions the delegate's judgment.
``I've seen many people urinating on the side of the road. Usually they do it behind a car door,'' Jones said. ``I think he should have used some discretion, hid behind a tree or something.''
Richmond police declined to comment on what led the officer to charge Nelms with indecent exposure rather than the lesser charge of urinating in public.
``When the case goes to court, Mr. Nelms can tell his side of the story and the officer can tell what he observed - and the judge will decide,'' said Frederick Russell, deputy chief in charge of investigations.
Byrd Park last year was the scene of 186 sex-related arrests, including indecent exposure and solicitation - more than twice as many as any other Richmond park, police said.
At the General Assembly, Nelms told his side of the story at an open meeting of the House Transportation Committee. He later addressed closed sessions of the House Republican and Democratic caucuses.
Everywhere he turned, however, reporters were waiting with questions.
``Obviously this is embarrassing,'' he said. ``I want to make it perfectly clear I was alone. No one else was with me and no one else was involved.''
Nelms, 36, said he went to Byrd Park - about four miles from the Capitol - to get some fresh air last Thursday afternoon during a momentary lull in the Assembly's heavy workload.
``I went down to the river to get some exercise and hopefully some peace and quiet,'' he said.
He said he strolled along a nature trail that runs along the James River. ``The rushing river had its effect on my bladder.''
Nelms said he stepped off the path so he would be hidden if someone came along. As he urinated, he said he saw a man approaching and ``struggling to see me through the small trees.''
The man turned out to be a plainclothes officer.
Thursday, reporters also questioned Nelms about discrepancies in press reports about the 1992 robbery.
According to official police records, Nelms reported that two men robbed him of $66 and his keys in Byrd Park in the evening before the 1992 veto session of the General Assembly. Police records show that another man reported he had been robbed nearby about 30 minutes earlier.
But the Richmond Times-Dipatch - quoting unidentified police officers - reported that Nelms and the second victim were together in the same car when they were robbed.
``That was a misprint - I was alone,'' Nelms said. MEMO: Staff writer Terri Williams contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Suffolk Del. Robert E. Nelms explains his side of the story to
Capitol reporters in Richmond Thursday. ``I didn't do anything that
any other guy hasn't done in the woods,'' Nelms said.
KEYWORDS: ARREST INDECENT EXPOSURE by CNB