Sen. Hawkins’ Kin Accused of Molestation

Sen. Paula Hawkins (R-Fla.), one of the prime sponsors of legislation to protect children against sexual abuse, has acknowledged that her brother is in jail on child molestation charges.

In a report published Sunday, the Miami Herald disclosed that Hawkins’ brother, Llewellen Fickes, 56, is scheduled to go to trial June 3 in Abbeville, La.

He has been jailed since his arrest on June 19, 1984, on six felony charges involving the alleged sexual battery of his 11-year-old stepdaughter, his 8-year-old niece and one of the children’s 12-year-old girlfriends.

“His entire life has been a great tragedy in spite of the fact that he came from a wonderful home with great spiritual influence and had every opportunity to succeed,” Hawkins said in a statement released after the paper notified her of its information.

Hawkins criticized the newspaper for the timing of its story, one day before President Reagan is scheduled to speak at a fund-raising dinner marking the beginning of her reelection campaign.

Fickes’ arrest came just 54 days after Hawkins disclosed that, as a child in 1932, she had been fondled by a neighbor and that her parents had filed a complaint with police.