Richmond Times-Dispatch from Richmond, Virginia • 20

TffiQ Priest who killed self faced sex allegations He shot himself hours after bishop confronted him on reports darkened library to feel his erect penis Metz who teaches at John Tyler Community College has written a fictionalized sc- count of what occurred and subsequent reac- tion by the church and is looking for a publisher Now an Episcopalian Metz said it was part of her self-prescribed therapy to work out unresolved emotions over how victimized children might have fared Tl stay awqr than ga back Mishkel a New Kent County middle school teadier is still a Catholic but said harder and harder for the priest to preach to me stay away from church feel guilty about it then go The two said they informed school offi- rials then the diocese when children com- plained to than about behavior At me print Metz said she also called the need counseling in light of these Sullivan aaid wtlMBd Artfos Hesch was at St 4400 Beulah Road from 1982 until his reassignment in 1985 to St Nicholas in Virginia Beach where he was associate pastor Two years later he was reassigned to Sacred Heart Parish in Big Stone Gap as pastor In 1991 he went to Catholic University and was assigned to weekend resident duties at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Henrico County The former parochial teachers Sara Meta and Jacqueline Mishkel said the church turned a deaf ear to their complaints about Hesch nine years ago Metz and Mishkel said the reports of abuses at Sacred Heart-St Augustine included Hesch rubbing naked bodies with powder during an outing at the local YMCA and taking a male sex education class into a 16 days after that of a high-ranking diocesan official Gerry Van Ostern who was a friend of Hesch Van widow Jane yesterday said her husband had been sexually abused by priests when he was a seminarian Van Ostem 46 was head of die diocesan Office of Christian Formation in Richmond Balms aakHes era not related Sullivan aaid he believe the Van Ostem and Hesch suicides are related He said that he know about Van claim to have been sexually abused as a seminarian He said his investigation of Hesch is continuing I am inquiring at the parishes where Father Hesch was assigned to determine if there are any parishioners who pate in their funeral Mass the bishop asked why then started his inquiry The sources said that Hesch was accused of snisiiy abusing the man a decade ago 1985 akgations When Sullivan confronted Hesch about the fniMtiiw he also brought up allegations that had surfaced against Hesch in 1985 at a South Richmond parochial school where he taught sex education foe upper level elemen- taTmfbnner teachers at Sacred Heart-St Augustine School in South Richmond said yesterday they told the diocese in 1985 that parents and pupils were complaining about physical handling of the children In one case they said he invited a boy to sit on his lap while he had an erection Hesch'a suicide the night of June 5 came BYEPHICC8 Tmes-Dispatch Staff wetter Bishop Walter Sullivan of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond yesterday confirmed that allegations of sexual abuse of children had been rude against a priest who committed suicide June 5 The Rev John Hesch 37 who had just received his doctorate in canon law from Catholic University in Washington shot himself within hours of being confronted with the allegations by the bishop PttkhloMrt aricMo Diocesan sources said the investigation began after the April 24 suicide of a 21-year-old member of St Augustine Catholic Church The sources said that when die parents asked that Hesch not partici PLEASE SEE PRIEST PACE Historic makeover Powell Holton back Coleman Circuit City CEO also joins team Suspect in rapes is sought BYCMBSTININEUMfCnt Times-Dispatch Staff writer nmMD Authorities believe one suspect is behind a recent series of rapes ri women who were abducted at gunpoint in Washington and driven to northern Stafford County where the attacks occurred Moreover police in neighboring Prince William County are exploring the posaMity of a link between the three Stafford cases and a aimilar incident of abduction and sexual assault In the Stafford cases the assailant was described as a light-skinned black man in his 20s with a atender-to-medium build closely cut hair and hint facial hair He drives a maroon or burgundy two-door passenger car The victims in the June 12 June 17 and July 10 incidents were blade women in their 20a said Stafford Capt Charles Jett Jett said they were approached as they walked in northeast or southeast Washington between 10 pm and 2 ajn The first victim was ordered at gunpoint into the car Jett said However the suspect engaged the other victims in conversation and offered them a ride he aaid Jett said they accepted but once inside the car the man brandished a handgun and or- join a Coleman fund-raising event tomorrow night in McLean the Cole- man campaign said Holton was the first Republican elected Virginia governor in modern times another sign that some very prominent Republicans who are concerned about the course of the party and Virginia have gotten behind Marshall said the campaign manager Anson Franklin in confirming backing Franklin also confirmed that Richard Sharp chief executive officer of Circuit City Stores Inc is support- 1 ing Coleman and has been named to his finance committee Last year Sharp gave generously to the GOP campaign of George Allen for governor After Allen wot he named Sharp as one of his transition co-chairmen The North campaign registered lit- BY PCTPI HARDIN Times-Dispatch Washington Correspondent wasiunotoh Marshall independent Senate bid has been bolstered by support from two prominent figures former Gen Colin Powell and framer Gov Linwood Holton Powell the retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recently wrote a $1000 check to campaign according to a Republican source outside the campaign Powell was out of town and could not be reached yesterday In May Powell said he couldn't support framer Marine officer Oliver North for the GOP Soiate nomination because of role in the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal North went on to capture the nomination Holton a moderate Republican who has criticized North is on Coleman's finance committee and will PLEASE SEE COUMAN PACE B3 Cay sailor continues fight to keep his job PLEASE SEE RAPES PACE land said he felt the time might be right to disclose his secret Clinton had vowed to end the ban on gays in the military and rumor had it he would do so within days after moving into the White House So Selland and a chaplain in whom he had confided arranged the meeting with Cmdr Carl Hasslinger Selland said he hoped Hasslinger would keep his secret until the ban waa actually lifted and in the meantime order the crew to tone down its gay-baiting Once inside stateroom Selland said he found himself too nervous to speak He and the A long drink South Hill wants to draw up to six million gallons a day from Lake Gaston South going to grow we're going to have to have some more said Emmett Williams chairman of the South Hill Industrial Development Authority Currently the town can draw up to 15 million gallons a day from the Mehemn River and it now uses about 1 million grilons DstaAs Pact 84 BYBHICOMUX Times-Dispatch Staff Writer Nowtiui On Jan 21 1993 the day after Bill Clinton was Bwom in as president Navy Lt j-g Dirk Selland asked to meet privately with his commanding officer on the attack submarine Hammerhead For months Selland told a Navy board of inquiry yesterday he had tried to conceal his homosexuality from his fellow crew members But many suspected and taunted him constantly with crude jokes It got so bad that Selland the supply officer had asked for a transfer But with Clinton inaugurated Sel DONUMWIMES-OKMICH Renovation on the Vann Tower of The Belgian Friendship Building on Virginia Union campus is expected to be completed in August The $300500 project win provide a new exterior finish including tower illumination The Friendship Building was a gift of the Belgian government in 1941 PLEASE SEE GAY PAGE B8 a legitimate summer vacation? And if so the place just too jammed to do anything but now your stresa level? So what do we want from vacation anyway? And no fair saying America (Cmon It's not even built yet If you like history sorry just have to settle for the real thing) There is a surprising new survey that gives some of our answers Commissioned by Marriott International it finds that an ideal vacation for 98yr gercentjif us anyway would he spent at No Tm kidding i It was only 83 percent Still Fm kidding What it actually doea show is A that and thia is interesting men tend to be Ni tioners go Virginia's Division of Tourism has a survey of 5365 nonbusinesa visitors It shows most take three or more sites and they include an types High on the list: discount or other shopping 47 percent (see I told you) historic sites 46 percent national parks 25 percent museums 23 percent beadies 22 percent (which I know is a lie it's got to be more like 92 percent) the Chesapeake Bay 22 percent and theme parks 11 percent By the way no matter where we go or what we do there seems no real short-cut to the benefits of a vacation at least according to the Marriott survey You sure cant do it in a weekend know I tried I barely got over the Currituck Bridge in a weekend) Most of us cant take a long weekend either and call it a vacation Indeed reporta the survey need four days to feel like been on a So there it is Four days And no we cant count the three apent waiting in traffic cultures Or new ii OK there done the sexist jokes both ways But there it is: Men are activity-and-beach-ori-ented women are culture-oriented And overall what are we looking for? The survey ended up putting us both men and women into four categories recognizing that most of us cross over into more than one They are The Adventurer (60 percent of us qualify) who wants to explore new places and go sightseeing The Romantic (51 percent) who wanta a get-away with often to tropical location The Indulger (46 percent) who wanta to be pampered while escaping everyday pressures The Athlete (30 percent) who wants to pursue a sporting activity You can aee tins diversity by looking at where Virginia vaca Ray McfliiiSTER in a vacation other than traffic? After spending I'm sure 77 hours in a car Saturday afternoon trying to get over a narrow bridge onto North CarolinaTs Outer Banks for a mere two days I can say only one thing with certainty No not that Tm an idiot thank you Well OK Then maybe two tilings Everyone must be going to the beach Everyone If all the people who were trying to get onto the Outer Banks had succeeded Nags Head would be at the bottom of the ocean right now Atlantis IL So is that true? It has to be the beach or not much more interested in a vacation that involves a new sporting activity especially at the beach No sporting activity Not nude Women by contrast tend to be interested more in exploring new I.