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在津巴布韦被控拥有色情材料的前美议员有前科

Former U.S. congressman¹ Mel Reynolds has denied charges of possessing pornographic images and videos two days after his arrest at a hotel in Zimbabwe. This is not the first time the congressman has had run-ins with the law; he was forced to resign his seat in 1995 after being convicted on charges of having sex with a minor².

前美国国会众议员梅尔?雷诺兹否认拥有色情图像和视频，在这之前两天，他在津巴布韦的一家旅店被捕。这已经不是他第一次惹上法律麻烦了。1995年，雷诺兹在被判决与未成年人发生性关系的罪名成立之后，被迫辞去议员席位。

On Wednesday, Mel Reynolds smiled as he walked past journalists and into Zimbabwe's Harare courthouse. There he entered a plea of not guilty to two charges, including possessing pornography.

星期三，梅尔?雷诺兹微笑着从记者身边走过，进入津巴布韦首都哈拉雷的法院。随后，他表示要做无罪抗辩，否认针对他的两项控罪，包括拥有色情材料。

His lawyer, Arthur Gurira, spoke³ to VOA via phone from Zimbabwe.

他的律师亚瑟?古利亚通过电话从津巴布韦对美国之音说：

“He’s overstayed his visa [which] expired on December 2013. The second charge ispossession of articles and it’s being alleged⁴ they found nude⁵ pictures in his phone,” said Gurira.

“他延期滞留。他的签证在2013年12月到期。第二项指控是他拥有色情材料，据称在他的手机里发现了裸体画面。”

The former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives was born in 1952 in Mississipi, but he grew up in Illinois.

这位前民主党籍美国众议员1952年出生在密西西比州，但是在伊利诺伊州长大。

Lorenzo Morris teaches political science at Howard University and is familiar with Reynolds' career.

在霍华德大学教授政治学的洛伦佐?莫里斯熟悉雷诺兹的职业生涯。

“Well, it’s a sad story, but it’s not all that surprising because very often when we are overwhelmed at an early period, as he was when he started his career; having come from a relatively⁶ disadvantaged situation and becoming a Rhodes scholar and then being elected to Congress in a competitive city like Chicago, we forget they have to leave a great deal behind," said Morris.

他说：“这是一个让人伤心的故事。不过也不是特别地让人吃惊。因为很多时候，我们从一开始就承受着太大的压力。他的事业开始的时候，就是这样。他的出身背景相对处于弱势，后来成为罗德奖学金学者，然后又在一个竞争压力很大的城市芝加哥当选为国会议员。我们忘记了：他这样的人被迫要把身后很多东西丢掉。”

Reynolds was once a rising star in the Democratic Party but was forced to resign his seat in 1995 for having sex with an underage campaign worker. He also spent time in prison on fraud charges, but his sentence was commuted⁷ by President Clinton in 2001.

雷诺兹曾是民主党内一颗冉冉升起的明星，然而却在1995年因为与一位未成年助选人员发生性关系而被迫辞职。他还因为欺诈指控而被关进监狱，不过2001年，克林顿总统减去了他的刑期。

“He was someone who can deal with the black power community and the civil rights community without being a part of it, because he’s been in the elite⁸ part of the dominant⁹ society’s educational system. But that very separation also brings with it a degree of insularity¹⁰ and vulnerability,” said Morris.

莫里斯说：“他这样的人可以跟黑人力量社区和民权社区打交道，却不用成为社区一分子，因为他在主流社会教育系统里接受过精英熏陶。可是，这种分割也带了某种程度的孤立性和脆弱性。”

Morris also said that personal weaknesses can remain, whether in Africa or not.  Reynolds has been to Zimbabwe many times, apparently¹¹ on business.

莫里斯还说，不管雷诺兹是不是在非洲，他的个人弱点可能仍然存在。雷诺兹多次去过津巴布韦，显然是做生意。

Last year, he made an unsuccessful bid to return to Congress. That was his second attempt at a political comeback.

去年，他曾争取重返国会，这是他第二次试图在政治上东山再起，但是他的努力未能成功。