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."
For all those calling for the heads of Hastert and Boehner, this is an important distinction. Are THESE the e-mails that the leaders knew about? If so, these pages were no longer their responsibility, AND they were past the age of consent, so there was nothing, legally, that the House leaders could do.
When Foley started contacting younger kids, especially those still in the program, THAT'S when it became Hastert's responsibility, and I'm glad he forced Foley out. Foley's a creep, and from what I read in this article, all the pages KNEW it.
Thanks for the clarity.
He's a pervert-is that "inclusive" enough? BTW, I just realized he's RC which really is the icing on the cake for me. He's scandalized not only the Pubs, but the Papists-A double smack up aside the head for him.
Main Entry: ped·er·ast
Pronunciation: 'pe-d&-"rast
Function: noun
Etymology: Greek paiderastEs, literally, lover of boys, from paid- ped- + erastEs lover, from erasthai to love -- more at EROS
: one who practices anal intercourse especially with a boy
- ped·er·as·tic /"pe-d&-'ras-tik/ adjective
- ped·er·as·ty /'pe-d&-"ras-tE/ noun
Thus far, he corresponded with young Pages --- nothing else.
There's a lot of stuff about Barney Frank on this thread. I wasn't aware he had any pedophile stuff in his past. I know he's gay but not about underage boys. Can you enlighten me?
They ONLY knew about the emails NOT THE TEXT MESSAGES which is where Foley crossed the line. As usual, LIBERAL RATS are trying to confuse the two.
American Thinker is starting to piece together some interesting observations too:
Foley and the Blame Game
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5907
NO ONE forces me to respond to any of my emails.
In any event, thanks for the info. I stand corrected.
Exactly right!
You need to do a little research.
He lusts for boys. We're both right.
Can someone please enlighten me as to what Barney Frank has done to invite your ire? Is it only because he's an openly gay man? There are Republicans who are openly gay (Kolbe is).
So, are we equating being gay to being a pedophile. or what? Doen't make sense to me.
Thanks to dirtboy, 1035rep, kayak and others for having the patience to help on acronyms, etc!
Don't buy into the RC-hating, Republican-hating group guilt propaganda.
So far from what we know, Foley has only scandalized himself.
A cyber double smack for him still applies.
That's an interesting story, but is not central to the Foley story in my mind because, no matter how Foley's opponent got those e-mails, the fact remains that Foley could have chosen to deny them or to admit to them. By resigning so dramatically, he has admitted his behavior in this affair.
Google: Barney Frank prostitution; and let me know what you find.
Here's a line from the Washington Post !!!
In a third blockbuster scandal, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank admitted a lengthy relationship with a male hooker who ran a bisexual prostitution service out of Frank's apartment.ML/NJ
Stephen Gobie never did write his tell-all book, Capitol Offenses, but he still has a juicy story to tell. A male gigolo, in 1985 he placed an solicitous ad in Washington, D.C.'s weekly gay paper, the Washington Blade: "Exceptionally good-looking, personable, muscular athlete is available. Hot bottom plus large endowment equals a good time." That was all that U.S. Representative Barney Frank needed to hear. A powerful Democratic representative from Massachusetts and one of the few openly gay politicians at the time, Frank met with the hunky Gobie on April Fools' Day, 1985.
At first their (paid-for) relationship was all sunshine and twittering birds. Gobie and Frank became inseparable friends, with benefits. Gobie joined Frank's team in the Congressional Softball League and, according to him, became "the star player." He attended a bill signing at the White House with Frank and they all but skipped through the Rose Garden.
http://tinyurl.com/klrdu
But a darker underside was about to surface. Gobie lived loose. He had a felony past with convictions for cocaine possession, oral sodomy and "production of obscene items involving a juvenile." Gobie also had a habit of not paying his parking tickets.
Frank did what he could to extricate Gobie from his legal troubles. Using his congressional position, he successfully urged the sheriff to dismiss at least 33 parking tickets for Gobie. He also went on to hire Gobie as his personal aide, housekeeper, and driver. Gobie later explained the job was a "cover" concocted for his probation officers.
Meanwhile, Gobie had settled comfortably into the congressman's Georgetown brownstone. One night while lounging around the home, he was watching The Mayflower Madam on TV, a movie about an upscale madam. That story inspired him to become a pimp. Over the next few months, he ran a prostitution ring from the congressman's home. In 1987, the Washington Post broke the story.
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