"My reputation as a straight-shooter is well-known here. Enjoy your stay here while you can."
I'll vouch for your conduct all through this thread!
FYI...out of curiousity I did a little reading on 'age of consent laws'
Here: http://www.coolnurse.com/consent.htm
and Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_consent
From what I can tell, no matter how disgusting and offensive we find Mr. Foley's behavoir, he is unlikely to ever face charges if the kid or other kids involved were 16 or older. The law is a bit confusing in that there are federal laws on the books but state law takes precedence.(i think)
It depends on which state the questionable activity took place,but in most states the age of consent is 16, although the federal laws use 18. DC is 16.
This, coupled with the parents of the kid not wanting to pursue the matter, may be why nothing was done. Just a guess. How old do you have to be to be a page in the congress?
I think this is the normal first reaction in surprises like this: if it's not illegal, then it's not wrong.
Deeper thinkers see that it may have been consensual once it got that far, but the probing phase when they try to find a consenting partner (I'm not using the word Adult) puts unwilling teens in uncomfortable positions when all they wanted to do was be a Page in Congress. That's the part about creating a hostile work environment that sexual harassment laws were intended to prevent.
When comparing to the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinski affair, people narrowed it down to the two having a consensual relationship, but ignored the larger issue of the hostile work environment. I repeatedly asked at the time two questions: 1) how did the other interns feel about the special attention that Lewinski got and what it meant to their ability to advance as an intern, and 2) how did long-time Presidential Secretary Betty Currie feel about her job devolving into having to hid gifts under her bed at night? Both Ms. Currie and the other interns had their jobs impacted in a very negative way by the affair between Clinton and Lewinski. Ask Ms. Currie if she felt that she was suddenly in a hostile work environment when comparing her job under Clinton to how it was with prior Presidents.
Ask the Congressional Pages, who kept being warned, how hostile their work environment was. Congressional leaders need to view this whole mess from the prism of sexual harassment and how it creates a hostile work environment.
-PJ