The more troubling part, though, is that people in charge of the page program were warning ALL pages to stay away from Foley. And in a case like this, it doesn't matter if the parents don't want to press charges. IF you are in the leadership and you KNOW about activities like Foley's, you quietly tell him to retire or get him out of positions like Co-Chair of the EXPLOITED CHILDREN Committee. I mean that's just stupid to leave him there.
The problem arises that while they certainly knew Foley sent e-mail which seemed to be leading toward inappropriate behavior, did they know enough to take certain and swift action? Hindsight is 20/20.
Could it be the case that someone just knew "Foley e-mailed some kid and asked for a picture". Do you force someone to resign over that? If you've seen no other behavior that seems inappropriate, would you make a big deal over it? Might you feel that probably something hinky is going on, but you really can't prove it, the parents aren't worried enough to be making a stink, so maybe you're just overreaacting because you know Foley's gay? Maybe you tell an authority higher than you and make it his problem to deal with, but he doesn't have anymore info than you have.
With just the e-mails, or knowing about a couple of lines in the e-mails, it is somewhat gray.
Good point, BUT if the boy's parents didn't want the matter pursued, they probably also didn't want it publicized, which no doubt the Repos were more than willing to accomodate them. However, I agree with you that Foley should have been back benched, voluntarily or otherwise.