Rep. Lukens Expected to Resign From House : Congress: Ethics panel opens probe of allegations that Ohioan fondled Capitol employee. He was earlier convicted of having sex with an under-age girl.

Rep. Donald E. (Buz) Lukens (R-Ohio), facing a fresh charge of sexual misconduct, reportedly will resign his House seat today under pressure from House Republican leaders concerned about one more pre-election blow to Congress’ already battered image.

“There’ll be a resignation by tomorrow,” House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.) said in an interview Tuesday as the House Ethics Committee began investigating allegations that Lukens fondled and propositioned a young elevator operator in the Capitol last week.

The woman, who reported the alleged incident to her supervisor, was given leave with pay and assured she would not have to return to work as long as Lukens was around the Capitol, a congressional source said.

Lukens, 59, who was convicted last year on a misdemeanor charge of having sex with an under-age girl, said through an aide that he was considering resignation.

However, another top House GOP leader said that Lukens had promised the ethics panel that a letter of resignation would be delivered by noon today to Ohio Gov. Richard F. Celeste.

The leader, who requested anonymity, said that Lukens had been pressured to resign not only to spare Congress further shame amid ethics scandals and budget fiascoes, but also to jolt the Ohio lawmaker into getting professional help.

“Republicans and Democrats alike feel the House cannot tolerate this kind of conduct, especially in the current environment,” the leader said.

Some Republican strategists also said they feared that failure to force Lukens out of the House could damage GOP congressional candidates in elections less than two weeks away. But others discounted such an impact.

Lukens was trounced in his primary reelection bid last May and has less than three months left in his fifth term in the House.

In considering resignation, the congressman “has talked about the integrity of the House as a concern,” said his top aide, William P. Jarrell.

Lukens is pondering whether “to thumb his nose at the House like Barney Frank did, and not resign,” Jarrell said, or “to resign in the best interests of Congress, like Tony Coelho did.”

Rep. Frank (D-Mass.) was reprimanded by the House last summer in connection with his involvement with a male prostitute, while former Rep. Coelho (D-Merced) resigned in 1989 amid questions about improper financial dealings. Coelho’s resignation came shortly after that of then-House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.), who was under fire on Ethics Committee charges of financial misconduct.

Sources said that the ethics panel had decided not to seek disciplinary action against Lukens in the first sex case because he had been rejected by voters back home and would be gone from the House by January.

But when the new allegation arose, the committee moved unusually fast, shortcutting procedures and summoning Lukens to appear in a closed session Tuesday. If Lukens does not resign, the panel is expected to recommend punishment by the full House before Congress adjourns this week or next.

Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) was primed to press a resolution to expel Lukens if the committee were to recommend only a reprimand or censure.

Against this backdrop, Michel and other House Republican leaders went to Lukens, urging that he resign. He had resisted similar demands from Ohio GOP leaders following his conviction.

“You’ve got to deal with it when you’re in this spot,” Michel said of the Lukens matter, as he made his way to a budget meeting in the Capitol.

To avoid an appearance before the Ethics Committee, Lukens, according to a source, pledged to send his resignation to Celeste and to provide copies of the letter to Michel and House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.).