THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604140096
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WOODBRIDGE LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
A School Board member being investigated for alleged child abuse died of natural causes, not suicide, authorities say.
Police also have charged a psychiatrist with failing to report the alleged abuse to authorities after he counseled the Prince William School Board member, C. James Showers.
The charge against psychiatrist Hyung Soon Park, 60, of Springfield, is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum $500 fine.
``We wanted to send a message to other health care professionals,'' said Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert. Park's attorney declined to comment when contacted by The Washington Post and The Potomac News.
After Showers' death at his Woodbridge home March 30, his wife told police he had threatened to kill himself and was distraught over an accusation that he had molested a 10-year-old girl, an incident that police had not been aware of.
But Ebert said Friday tests indicate there were no narcotics or poisons in Showers' bloodstream, which rules out the possibility of suicide and confirms the medical examiner's finding that Showers died of a heart attack.
Ebert said police and social workers found the sexual abuse allegations credible after interviewing the girl this week.
The girl, who lives in Fairfax County, stayed with Showers and his wife, Mun Showers, at their home on Feb. 17 and 18. Ebert said the girl's parents were good friends with Mun Showers.
The girl said Showers fondled her and showed her pornographic photos, the prosecutor said. The girl also recalled that Showers was ``highly intoxicated at the time,'' according to Ebert.
Soon after the girl went home, she told her parents, who immediately called Showers and his wife and angrily recounted the allegations, Ebert said. Ebert said the girl's parents did not report the matter to police because they were afraid the publicity would further harm their child.
Showers hired an attorney soon after that, Ebert said, and on March 23 he checked himself into Potomac Hospital for intoxication and depression.
Showers, 51, a contracting officer with the General Services Administration, won his School Board seat in November in Prince William's first-ever School Board election.
Showers was a staunch social conservative who attacked the school system's sex education curriculum, complaining that it did not emphasize abstinence, and who accused a school nurse and county social worker of counseling two students about abortion.
KEYWORDS: DEATH SEXUAL ABUSE SEX CRIME
by CNB