"RICHMOND, June 12 -- Virginia Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore led a rising chorus of Republican voices today demanding the resignation of House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins Jr., warning the embattled GOP lawmaker that if he does not step down he will be ousted from his leadership post following reports that he made improper sexual advances toward women.

On yet another day of political upheaval, as a legislative protege of Wilkins announced that there were new and "credible" allegations of sexual misconduct by Wilkins, Kilgore also rebuked the House leader for threatening retribution against the wave of GOP colleagues clamoring for his resignation.

The statement by Kilgore, the highest-ranking Republican in Virginia government, was a devastating blow to the speakers frantic lobbying effort to stay on as the state's most powerful legislator.

Kilgore cited a Washington Post report, about a $100,000 out-of-court settlement that Wilkins paid to an Amherst County woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by the speaker, as the most serious in a widening series allegations that has prompted the House Republican caucus to take steps to strip Wilkins of power.

"The reason given by the speaker for the payment -- that it was to protect the caucus -- I interpret to be an effort to protect his position as speaker of the House," Kilgore said at a news conference in his Richmond office.

"The confirmation by the speaker of the payment of $100,000, the motivation behind the payment and now the reports that he may use the power of his office to influence caucus members have made me regretfully conclude that Speaker Wilkins cannot continue as speaker of the House," Kilgore added.

In a telephone interview, Wilkins indicated he was actively considering resignation, saying: "I've thought about a whole lot of things. I haven't finalized any decision yet."

Wilkins, who has denied the allegations, also said he expects a resolution on his fate by Tuesday, when the GOP caucus holds a second meeting to resolve what Republican leaders describe as a nightmare of embarrassing publicity that threatens to tarnish Virginia's dominant party for years.

Wilkins, 65, paid Jennifer L. Thompson, 26, at least $100,000 to settle her complaint that he groped her and pinned her against furniture in her office early last summer, according to her employer and other sources.

"A lot of people are encouraging me to stay; a lot of people are encouraging me to go. Im getting mixed messages," Wilkins said. "We'll make a decision Tuesday, that's for sure. It could happen before then."

A Wilkins aide who is on the state payroll said he sent a mass e-mail to Richmond lobbyists on Tuesday encouraging them to vote for Wilkins in a Lynchburg television station's online poll.

Even Wilkins's most ardent supports concede privately that his hold on the speakership is at best tenuous, with only about six or seven die-hards in the 65-member GOP caucus hoping he can ride out the storm. .

From a political point of view, the comments by Kilgore, a charismatic figure with GOP activists who wants to run for governor in 2005, could provide crucial support to wavering House members worried about trying to dethrone a figure as formidable and ordinarily persuasive as Wilkins.

Late today, two other popular Republicans, members of Congress who served with Wilkins in the House of Delegates, followed Kilgore's lead in demanding Wilkins's resignation.

First District Rep. Jo Ann S. Davis said, "Because of the appearance Of improriety, he ought to do the honorable thing and step down.

"Republicans are the party of family values and integrity," Davis added. "We've got to be consistent."

Rep. Eric I. Cantor, of the Richmond area's 7th District, said, "Given the current situation, the honorable thing for him to do is to resign as speaker."

Like Davis and Cantor, Kilgore praised Wilkins for his often-unsung struggle to organize the GOP across Virginia, a 24-year effort that catapulted the onetime highway contractor from rural Amherst to the speakership, an office that controls the General Assembly's legislative flow. Republicans today have solid majorities in both legislative chambers. They also hold most of the state's 11 congressional seats and both U.S. Senate seats.

"This is a sad event," Kilgore said, as though he were delivering a eulogy. "He has been a steadfast warrior."

But, Kilgore added, the $100,000 payment "and the reports of potential abuse of power have undermined his ability to lead."

"I'm asking him to do this for all Virginians," Kilgore said. "We're dealing with troubling allegations on a daily basis."

Today's allegations came from Del. Clark N. Hogan (R-Charlotte), one of more than a dozen House freshmen who received significant contributions from Wilkins's political action committee in the 2001 election cycle.

The Gazette-Virginian, a regional newspaper serving Southside, quoted Hogan as saying he expects more allegations of sexual misconduct against the speaker "in the next few days."

"'There will be more credible allegations made shortly by other people," Hogan told the newspaper, adding that he knows some of the women who may make the allegations. "This doesn't appear to be an isolated incident."

A number of legislators said today they were incensed that Wilkins's chief of staff, whom Wilkins recently suspended over a GOP eavesdropping scandal, was making telephone calls on his behalf. Some also said they were angry about the e-mail to Richmond lobbyists that went out from the chief of staffs computer, urging them to support Wilkins in the television stations online poll.

John Hall, a Wilkins intern, said he sent the e-mail in his role as an employee of the speaker's PAC.

"I guess he was just trying to help," Wilkins said.

Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) called anew for Wilkins to resign the speakership and his House seat and said he hopes to establish new regulations against harassment in the Capitol Square community of legislators, lobbyists, staffers and volunteers.

Kaine said he had been contacted by female lobbyists who reported unwelcome sexual advances by Republican and Democratic lawmakers in an atmosphere in which women believe they cannot speak out without fear of reprisal.

"It's a serious problem," Kaine said. "It's happened a lot, but with a small percentage of legislators. There are some who just don't get it."" (R. H. Melton, The Washington Post, June 13, 2002).