MEL'S IN BIG TROUBLE

Congressman Mel Reynolds was indicted on a laundry list of prurient offenses, including the charge he had sex with an underage campaign volunteer. The Chicago Democrat and former Rhodes Scholar faces 19 counts of child pornography, sexual assault, aggravated sexual abuse of a child, obstruction of justice and unlawfully communicating with a witness. Reynolds, who's been under investigation since June, denies all -- and says his now-18-year-old accuser's a lesbian who once practiced Satan worship. The ride can only get wilder, says TIME Chicago reporter Julie Grace, who notes Reynolds is also being chased for a spate of alleged financial crimes by the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Illinois Attorney General and the Federal Election Commission. "Political insiders think there's going to be a whole lot more fallout -- that it's just going to get ridiculous," Grace says.