American Notes CONGRESS

Though tales of libidinous mischief on Capitol Hill are not exactly rare, the allegations that surfaced last week about the sexual conduct of an Ohio Congressman came as something of a shock. In a conversation secretly videotaped by a Columbus television station last November, Republican Donald Lukens talked with Anna Coffman, an unemployed widow, in a fast-food restaurant about his relationship with the woman's daughter, now 17. "I couldn't understand a man in your position, why you're messin' around with these teenagers," said Coffman. Replied Lukens, who turns 58 this week: "I didn't really know she was a teenager. I do now, of course."

Coffman's daughter told the station that Lukens had twice paid her for sex: in 1985, when she was 13, and again last year. In his videotaped chat with the mother, Lukens seemed to suggest that he might arrange a Government job for her. Though the FBI says there is no evidence that the lawmaker was offering Coffman a bribe in exchange for her silence, the Franklin County prosecutor is considering whether to file criminal charges against the Congressman. Lukens, who has been divorced since 1983, refused to comment.