Posted on 10/01/2006 7:45:10 AM PDT by Dane
Former page: We knew about Foley 'for years' By M.E. SPRENGELMEYER AND AMIE PARNES Scripps Howard News Service October 1, 2006 WASHINGTON — Sexually explicit messages from former Rep. Mark Foley to one former congressional page might be just the tip of the iceberg, the leader of an alumni association for former congressional pages told Scripps Howard News Service on Saturday.
While Foley resigned this week after published reports of "friendly" e-mails to one 16-year-old male page and the pending broadcast of more sexually explicit instant messages, similar graphic messages from him were received by at least three other teenage boys who once worked in the page program, said Matthew Loraditch, a Maryland college senior who runs the U.S. House Page Alumni Association's Internet message board.
Advertisement "I've known about them (messages) for several years now," he said Saturday.
"It was more like, 'Hey, look at this,' " said Loraditch, 21, who served in the page program in the 2001-02 session. "I don't think the people in question felt that uncomfortable. It was more, 'Ooh, look at that creepy guy.'
"It was definitely crossing-the-line stuff. The instant message stuff, and stuff I've seen and heard about, definitely couldn't be misconstrued" as merely "friendly" or innocent, Loraditch said.
Loraditch said during his time on Capitol Hill, Foley was one of the members of Congress who expressed what appeared to be a sincere interest in the young pages, often visiting the areas where they congregate in the corner of the House of Representatives chamber to chat or offer stories and advice.
Loraditch said he and other pages viewed Foley as gregarious and "flaky" at the time, and that he offered several of them, not including Loraditch, his personal e-mail when they were graduating from the program and saying goodbyes.
After Loraditch returned to Maryland and began attending college at Towson University, several male former pages told him they had received Internet messages that were similar to the graphic messages first reported by ABC News last week.
"At the age we were when those things happened, 16 or 17, when you see that kind of stuff, most people our ages know what's going on and know what's happening," Loraditch said. "You're not like a little kid who can be roped into that."
Loraditch said his friends all thought the messages were disturbing, but they did not report them, either because they did not think the messages posed a serious threat or because they might have worried about career consequences.
He added all his friends received the questionable messages only after they had graduated and left the program, when, theoretically, that would not raise the same in-house sexual harassment issues as if they had been sent when the former pages still worked for Congress.
"This all happened after we were outside the protective umbrella of all our supervisors, not when we were there," Loraditch said. "To me, that indicates some sort of thought process going on in Foley's mind."
The case has prompted many congressional leaders to talk about stepped-up vigilance to protect the young men and women who serve as congressional pages, who get an up-close look at Congress while doing messenger-like duties for lawmakers.
Loraditch is a big backer of the program for its one-of-a-kind educational benefits, and he believes none of the supervisors who run the program were aware of any inappropriate messages at the time.
"The supervisors I worked with, if any of them had been told, it would have been dealt with at the time promptly," he said. "All of our supervisors were great people. They love pages. Half of them were former pages, and they've got kids of their own. If they had known about it, it would have been dealt with."
In the wake of the Foley scandal, many pages worry the program could be altered drastically or eliminated in an overreaction intended to protect teenagers.
"The page program is a good program. I firmly believe that the program could not have done anything more to protect the pages," Loraditch said. "It all happened after we left and had done our service."
Clever, like ALL pedophiles.
Makes me wonder if he was part of those Gary Condit- rumored orgies from a few years back.
That thought crossed my mind, too.
It's also possible that some disturbing messages were from some run of the mill creep totally unrelated to Foley. Unfortunately online predators are becoming common.
bttt
* florida * powerplayer * meltdown *
What title is it that the English books say should precede a letter to a congressman--is it "The Honorable" (Mark Foley) w/ his hill address?
How about "The Chicken-Loving MF"...........
ML/NJ
Very timely release of this info that was known for years - 5 weeks before an election!!!!
Once again, the democrats are hedging their bets on rumor and innuendo instead of issues!
I certainly didn't know that it was this bad with Foley, but the rumors have been out there for a long time. So I guess I knew too. Censure me!
At least this creep was "outed"!
DC insiders usually protect their own from these sorts of public disclosures. I wonder who Foley pissed off?
I would be surprised if the FBI doesn't raid Foley's home in the next couple of days, to seize his computer to see how much kiddie porn that sicko has on it. He's going to prison, and rightfully so. I just wish the Republican leaders had handled this differently. It looks like they were trying to cover for Foley, and you know that's exactly how the RATS are going to play it out in the media.
For sure, but not until he disgraced the GOP.
"Clever, like ALL pedophiles."
Foley is so disgusting. I just can't wait for this baby face pedophile to serve some time in our US lockup system.
Lock him up and release the big dogs. Just can't wait.
My next option is to dangle him about 100 feet over the Capitol building by his ......!
Eeeewwwwwwww!, Now that's an unpleasant thought. LOL What a bunch of pervs!
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