MAN WHO SAYS VIAGRA MADE HIM SEXUALLY FUNCTIONAL FACES SEX CHARGE

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- A 72-year-old man who told police that Viagra had
made him sexually functional again has been charged with attempting to rape
his neighbor.

Authorities stopped short of saying the anti-impotence drug was the cause
of the incident.

James T. McNamara, who turned 72 on Monday, was charged Tuesday with
attempted rape and first-degree assault. He was accused of beating his
52-year-old neighbor in the head with a claw hammer on Saturday after the
woman reportedly spurned his sexual advances, said police in the Olympia
suburb of Lacey.

He told a Lacey police detective that Viagra had made him sexually
functional for the first time in 12 years, Lt. Phil Comstock said. However,
McNamara did not say whether he took the drug before Saturday's alleged
attack.

Two neighbors told police that McNamara had become obsessed with the woman
in recent weeks and harassed her. One said she witnessed the attack, saying
the woman escaped when McNamara tripped over his unbuttoned pants, which
had fallen around his ankles.

If convicted as charged, McNamara faces a maximum 13 years in prison.

Checked-by: Richard Lake