Columnist for 30 yrs accused of child abuse

For almost 30 years, Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene was an institution in this city. With straightforward Midwestern style, he came to...

For almost 30 years, Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene was an institution in this city. With straightforward Midwestern style, he came to epitomize the folksier side of American values.

That public persona came crashing down around Greene on Sunday when a brief notice on the front page of the Tribune announced the columnist, who is married, had resigned after an investigation into sexual misconduct with a teen-age girl more than a decade ago.

Greene’s departure from the paper, where he had worked since 1978, was newsworthy enough to be the lead story of the day on a number of Chicago television stations. But even with the publicity, questions remained about the circumstances surrounding the misconduct, including why the incident emerged more than a decade after it happened. But top editors at the Tribune remained tight-lipped when asked for further information. The Tribune story said a girl, then in her late teens, met with Greene in his office as part of a high school project. The teen-ager was later the subject of a Greene column, followed by a sexual encounter. (LATWP)