Mel Reynolds
| Mel Reynolds | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 2nd district |
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In office January 3, 1993 – October 1, 1995 |
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| Preceded by | Gus Savage |
| Succeeded by | Jesse Jackson Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Melvin Reynolds January 8, 1952 Mound Bayou, Mississippi |
| Political party | Democratic |
Melvin "Mel" Reynolds (born January 8, 1952) is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois. He resigned from Congress in 1995 after a conviction for statutory rape.
Reynolds and his twin brother, Marvin Jerry Reynolds, were born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, sons of Rabbi J. J. Reynolds and Essie Mae Prather. Reynolds moved to Chicago as a child. He received an Associate of Arts from one of the City Colleges of Chicago, and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and from Harvard University with a M.P.A.. He also won a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where he attended Lincoln College and received an LL.B..
Before entering politics, Reynolds worked as an assistant professor of political science at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois. He also founded the Community Economic Development and Education Foundation.
Reynolds was unsuccessful in his 1988 and 1990 campaigns against Congressman Gus Savage. However, Reynolds defeated Savage in 1992 and served in the U.S House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995.
In August 1994, Reynolds was indicted for sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse for engaging in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old campaign volunteer that began during the 1992 campaign. Despite the charges, he continued his campaign and was re-elected that November; he had no opposition. Reynolds initially denied the charges, which he claimed were racially motivated. On August 22, 1995, he was convicted on 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography. He resigned his seat on October 1 of that year.
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