Pages say Foley befriended a wide circle of teenagers

[Judi Lynn]

Oct. 21, 2006, 10:53PM
Pages say Foley befriended a wide circle of teenagers
They detail the ex-congressman's pattern of behavior


By AMY GOLDSTEIN and ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON
Washington Post

WASHINGTON — They met on the House floor. He was a 16-year-old congressional page, rushing phone messages to the members he served. Rep. Mark Foley was a successful politician in his mid-40s willing to joke with him between votes.

They talked perhaps a dozen times. Then at his page graduation ceremony that June, in 2002, he was excited when Foley appeared, uninvited, and dictated his personal e-mail address for the boy to jot in his memory book. "I started contacting him right away," the young man recalled. "I knew a congressman that I ... talked to online. That was pretty cool."

The messages were innocent at first. But after the young man moved home, he recalled, Foley started asking about "my roommates, if I ever saw them naked." Within months, the congressman was dangling a job offer "because I was a hot boy," he said. Two years later, when he contacted Foley for advice on D.C. hotels, the congressman wrote back: "You could always stay at my place. I'm always here, I'm always lonely, and I'm always up for oral sex."

The experience of the young man, now 22, who agreed to recount his interactions with Foley on the condition of anonymity, was characteristic of the way the six-term House member pursued the online relationships that, once revealed, forced him to resign from Congress late last month.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4278408.html

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Foley should have gone with _Dubya to get ice cream, instead!

[uppityperson]

1. at this point I don't care if he was legal or not, he is creepy

grooming young people and offering bribes for future in politics. Creepy.

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. None of this is legal

because no matter how old these kids are, it is still 'abuse of power'. Especially, since Foley was using the prospect of future employment to entice people to have sex with him.

[keopeli]

3. This story makes it look like Foley didn't talk about sex until after they

were legal (18 in D.C.). It's Foley's laws about internet solicitation of a minor that are likely to get him into trouble. Sounds to me like a loyal Repub page told this story to try to cover for Foley.

There's really no gray area. Did Foley behave inappropriately, even criminally, when he contacted former Pages via the internet? What other inappropriate behavior has Foley exhibited and is any of it criminal?

Personally, stories from former Pages don't mean much to me, especially those that seem to demonstrate no real knowledge of criminal behavior. But, stories about Foley committing a crime are very interesting to read as I watch how the Republicans will steal this election.

Peace

[maddezmom]

4. locking

This is a feature article, not latest breaking news. On going discussion here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x241739