Florida Congressman Mark Foley was a prominent supporter, even an avid advocate, of heavier penalties against pedophiles. He once commented that laws against child molesters should be so tough that pedophiles, when caught, would discover that their life was over. “We track library books better than we do sexual predators”, Foley had said. Now Foley has been discovered to be a pedophile himself after a 2005 incident with a 16 year old boy, was uncovered months later. In 2006, when the news broke, prominent newspapers described the email and IM exchanges as “raunchy” – they go far beyond raunchy and include requests from Foley to the teenager asking for a photograph, requests for “measurements” of penile size, descriptions of Foley’s and the teenager’s masturbation routine, an IM online sex session with the teenage boy, and more. The incident was all the more peculiar considering that Foley, as the chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children’s Caucus, introduced legislation in July of 2005, to protect children from exploitation by adults over the Internet.

The boy was a former congressional page, a high-school student who acts as an assistant and messenger to United States Congressmen. There are strict rules and guidelines regarding the use of pages in the U.S. government and many are calling out for an investigation into this incident in an effort to insure these young boys and girls cannot be taken advantage of by U.S. politicians.

The incident was further compounded when it was learned that others in the government knew about the Foley incident and did not take action immediately. Representative Rodney Alexander, a Republican from Louisiana, was the official sponsor for the page and knew personally about the incident himself. He claims that he did not come forward, regardless of the legal implications, because the boy’s parents requested that the matter be dropped. Alexander indicated that he had passed on what he knew to the chairman of the House Republican campaign organization, Representative Thomas Reynolds, a Republican from New York. Reynolds also chose to cover up the matter. In addition, chairman of the Page Board, Representative John Shimkus, a Republican from Illinois, said that he thought about starting an investigation but did not pursue it after Foley assured him that nothing serious was going on. Democrats of course, jumped on the story and demanded full disclosure and investigations to Foley’s relationships with other past pages – close to election time, without true concern for the boy victim; they used this incident as a springboard for the upcoming 2006 elections.

ABC News reported that Foley had also engaged in a series of sexually explicit IMs (instant messages) with current and other former pages – all male. In one exchange, Foley asked the boy “Do I make you a little horny?”. In another exchange with a young boy, Foley candidly asked, “You in your boxers too? Well, strip down and get relaxed.”

As the news broke, Foley, the age old politician, took the typical “sympathy” steps that Hollywood actors take when they’ve been caught with their fingers in the cookie jar. Foley began issuing public excuses claiming he had just entered a drug and mental rehab and then later claiming that he himself was molested as a boy (age 13 to 15) by a clergyman.

In defense of the Republicans, it doesn’t go without notice that the timing of the release of information regarding the incident occurred at an opportune time for the Democrat party – just 1 month before the November 2006 elections. The Foley incident took place in 2005 and that the Republicans knew about the email exchanges is not argued. What is arguable is who and how many Republicans knew about the IM messages and how that information was leaked to the press.

The news began to break when the boy emailed his sponsor, Alexander, about Foley’s email saying “This freaked me out.”. When Foley requested a photo the boy called it “sick, sick, sick”. The boy explained that Foley had obtained his email address when the boy had given him a thank-you card. The boy also noted that Foley had commented about email he had sent to another page. Foley told the boy that “He’s such a nice guy. Acts much older than his age and he’s in really great shape.”.

In one exchange, Foley had written “I am back in Florida now… It’s nice here…. Been raining today… it sounds like you will have some fun over the next few weeks… How old are you now? Send me an email pic of you as well.”

Copies of the email exchange were sent to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) who promptly submitted them to the FBI who immediately began a preliminary investigation. “As a former prosecutor who handled sex crimes in the District of Columbia, the emails set off alarm bells. Grown men simply do not send emails requesting photographs to teenagers over whom they have had some degree of authority,” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW wrote today.

The complete text of the IM session with the boy in question follows:
Foley (7:25:14 PM): hey
Auto response from 16 Year Old Boy (7:25:14 PM): scrounging for food…brb
Foley: ok – keep scrounging
16 Year Old Boy: boo
Foley: boo dude
16 Year Old Boy: lol – where’d ya go this afternoon
Foley: i am in Pensacola…had to catch a plane
16 Year Old Boy: oh well that’s fun
Foley: indeed
16 Year Old Boy: what are you doing in Pensacola
Foley: now in my hotel room
16 Year Old Boy: well..like why did you go there
Foley: for the campaign
16 Year Old Boy: have you officially announced yet
Foley: not yet
16 Year Old Boy: cool cool…
Foley: how is my favorite young stud doing?
16 Year Old Boy: tired and sore – i didn’t no waltzing could make you sore
Foley: from what
16 Year Old Boy: what do you mean from what – from waltzing…im sore from waltzing
Foley: that’s good – you need a massage
Foley signed off at 7:39:37 PM.
Foley signed on at 7:40:35 PM.
16 Year Old Boy (7:40:44 PM): got kicked off?
Foley (7:41:24 PM): must have
16 Year Old Boy: ugh tomorrow i have the first day of lacrosse practice
Foley: love to watch that – those great legs running
16 Year Old Boy: haha…they aren’t great – that’s why we have conditioning. 2 days running….3 days lifting – every week until the end of march
Foley: well don’t ruin my mental picture
16 Year Old Boy: oh lol…sorry
Foley: nice – you’ll be way hot then
16 Year Old Boy: haha…hopefully
Foley: better be – well I better let you go do your thing
16 Year Old Boy: oh ok – have fun campaigning – or however you spell it – lol, I’ll see ya in a couple of weeks
Foley: did any girl give you a hand job this weekend
16 Year Old Boy: lol no – im single right now – my last gf and i broke up a few weeks ago
Foley: are you
Foley: good so you’re getting horny
16 Year Old Boy: lol…a bit
Foley: did you spank it this weekend yourself
16 Year Old Boy: no – been too tired and too busy
Foley: wow… i am never to busy haha
16 Year Old Boy: haha
Foley: or tired. helps me sleep
16 Year Old Boy: that’s true. haven’t been having a problem with sleep though.. i just walk in the door and collapse well at least this weekend
Foley: I am sure
16 Year Old Boy: I don’t do it very often normally though
Foley: why not – at your age seems like it would be daily
16 Year Old Boy: not me – I’m not a horn dog – maybe 2 or 3 times a week
Foley: that’s a good number- in the shower
16 Year Old Boy: actually usually I don’t do it in the shower just cause I shower in the morning and quickly
Foley: in the bed
16 Year Old Boy: i get up at 530 and am outta the house by 610
16 Year Old Boy: eh ya
Foley: on your back
16 Year Old Boy: no face down
Foley: Love details
16 Year Old Boy: lol – I see that – lol
Foley: Really, do you really do it face down
16 Year Old Boy: ya
Foley: kneeling
16 Year Old Boy: well I don’t use my hand…I use the bed itself
Foley: where do you unload it?
16 Year Old Boy: Towel
Foley: Really, completely naked?
16 Year Old Boy: Well yeah
Foley: very nice
16 Year Old Boy: lol
Foley: cute butt bouncing in the air
16 Year Old Boy: haha. well I’ve never watched myself. but ya I guess
Foley: I am sure not. Hmmm. Great visual. I may try that.
16 Year Old Boy: It works
Foley: hmm. Sounds interesting. I always use lotion and the hand but who knows.
16 Year Old Boy: I don’t use lotion…takes too much time to clean up – with a towel you can just wipe off….and go
Foley: lol where do you throw the towel
16 Year Old Boy: But you cant work it too hard….or its not good in the laundry
Foley: Just kinda slow rubbing
16 Year Old Boy: ya…. or you’ll rub yourself raw
Foley: Well I have a totally stiff wood now
16 Year Old Boy: Cause the towel isn’t very soft
Foley: I bet..that would hurt
16 Year Old Boy: But you can find something softer than a towel i guess
Foley: But it must feel great spurting on the towel
16 Year Old Boy: ya
Foley: Wow, is your little guy limp…or growing
16 Year Old Boy: eh growing
Foley: hmm, so you got a stiff one now
16 Year Old Boy: Not that fast. Hey, so you have a fetich
Foley: hey what
16 Year Old Boy: fetish**
Foley: like
Foley: I like steam room. what’s yours?
16 Year Old Boy: It’s kind of weird
16 Year Old Boy: lol
Foley: I am hard as a rock. so tell me when your reaches rock
16 Year Old Boy: I have a cast fetish
Foley: Well tell me. Cast?
16 Year Old Boy: ya like…plaster cast
Foley: OK,..so what happens. How does that turn you on?
16 Year Old Boy: I don’t know – it just does. I’ve never had one, but people that have them turn me on and if I had one it would probably turn me on. Beats me. It’s kinda weird. But along with that I like the whole catholic girl look….that’s our schools uniform.
Foley: ha that’s wild
16 Year Old Boy: ya but now I’m hard
Foley: me 2. Cast got you going.
Foley: What you wearing?
16 Year Old Boy: normal clothes – t-shirt and shorts
Foley: um so a big buldge
16 Year Old Boy: ya
Foley: um
Foley: Love to slip them off of you.
16 Year Old Boy: haha
Foley: and gram the one eyed snake
Foley: grab
16 Year Old Boy: Not tonight…don’t get to excited
Foley: well your hard
16 Year Old Boy: that is true
Foley: and a little horny
16 Year Old Boy: and also true
Foley: get a ruler and measure it for me
16 Year Old Boy: I’ve already told you that
Foley: tell me again
16 Year Old Boy: 7 and 1/2
Foley: ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Beautiful.
16 Year Old Boy: lol
Foley: that’s a great size
16 Year Old Boy: thank you
Foley: still stiff
16 Year Old Boy: ya
Foley: take it out
16 Year Old Boy (8:10:54 PM): brb…my mom is yelling
Foley (8:11:06 PM): ok
16 Year Old Boy (8:14:02 PM): back
Foley (8:14:37 PM): cool hope se didn’t see any thing
16 Year Old Boy: no no
16 Year Old Boy: she is computer dumb though
16 Year Old Boy: it makes me so mad
Foley: good
Foley: haha
Foley: why
16 Year Old Boy: cause she cant do anything
Foley: oh well
16 Year Old Boy: she couldn’t figure out how to download a file from an email and open it
Foley: haha
16 Year Old Boy: and she only does it like a million times a day
16 Year Old Boy: oh well
16 Year Old Boy: whatever
16 Year Old Boy: well i better go finish my hw…i just found out from a friend that i have to finish reading and notating a book for AP English
Foley signed off at 8:17:43 PM.

Another 2003 IM session with a former page.
Maf54 (6:25:43 PM): i miss you
Xxxxxxxxx (6:25:47 PM): ya me too
Maf54 (6:25:50 PM): we are still voting
Maf54 (6:25:59 PM): you miss me too

________________________________________

Maf54 (7:19:21 PM): ok..i better go vote..did you know you would have this effect on me
Xxxxxxxxx (7:19:28 PM): lol i guessed
Xxxxxxxxx (7:19:38 PM): ya go vote…i dont want to keep you from doing your job
Maf54 (7:19:44 PM): can I have a good kiss goodnight
Xxxxxxxxx (7:19:50 PM): :-*
Xxxxxxxxx (7:19:55 PM): (kiss)
Xxxxxxxxx (8:50:02 PM): are you going to be in town over the veterans day weekend
Maf54 (8:50:15 PM): i may be now that your coming..
Maf54 (8:50:23 PM): who you coming to visit
Xxxxxxxxx (8:50:26 PM): haha good stuff
Xxxxxxxxx (8:51:24 PM): umm no one really

________________________________________

Maf54 (8:56:17 PM): we will be adjourned ny then
Xxxxxxxxx (8:56:23 PM): oh good
Maf54 (8:56:24 PM): by
Maf54 (8:57:10 PM): then we can have a few drinks
Maf54 (8:57:11 PM): lol
Xxxxxxxxx (8:57:19 PM): yes yes 😉
Maf54 (8:57:29 PM): your not old enough to drink
Xxxxxxxxx (8:57:44 PM): shhh….
Maf54 (8:57:47 PM): ok
Xxxxxxxxx (8:57:49 PM): thats not what my ID says
Xxxxxxxxx (8:57:50 PM): lol Maf54 (8:57:54 PM): ok
Xxxxxxxxx (8:58:13 PM): i probably shouldnt be telling you that huh
Maf54 (8:58:15 PM): we may need to drink at my house so we dont get busted