Parents Play Part in Foley Cover-up

Law enforcement officials are investigating whether Republican Representative Mark Foley of Florida broke any federal laws when he exchanged sexually explicit emails with a 16 year old page.

The FBI is also investigating whether any other lawmakers knew of Foley's misconduct and whether or not they reported it to law enforcement officials.

What has not been investigated is: When did the child's parents know and why did they not come forward and, what responsibility did lamakers have to reveal important information against the parents wishes to protect the public?

Representative Tom Reynolds, has stated that Representative Rodney Alexander told him months ago about emails to a 16 year old page who was from Alexander's state of Louisiana.

``Despite the fact that I had not seen the e-mails in question, and Mr. Alexander told me that the parents didn't want the matter pursued, I told the speaker [Dennis Hastert-R Illinois] of the conversation Mr. Alexander had with me,'' Reynolds said in his statement.

Reynolds knew, Alexander knew, and Hassert knew but the American public was not made aware, and Representative Foley was untouched for over a year until he chose to resign because the parents didn't want the matter pursued?

In a case earlier this year in Virginia, Abraham Cherrix, a boy the same age as the page in question in the Foley case, a judge gave the Accomack County Department of Social Services joint custody of the boy in a dispute over the effectiveness of radiation therapy versus "The Hoxley Method" of cancer treatment. Judge Jesse Demps ordered Abraham's parents to bring him to the hospital and to consent to whatever treatment the hospital deemed necessary.

The judgment was reversed and the boy was allowed to choose the treatment he felt would be most effective ending the department's joint custody and the battle.

In that case the only possible victim was Abraham Cherrix. In the Foley case countless possible victims were not protected from a known pedophile for over a year although at least three high level lawmakers knew of a dangerous situation because one boy's parents didn't want the matter pursued.

In Kansas, a new reporting law being proposed by Republicans requires doctors, nurses, counselors, and all other care providers report-as abuse-any sexual interaction involving teens under 16. Professionals must report even consensual activities, committed with partners their age, and where there is no suspicion of injury under the proposed policy even evidence of teen necking must be reported. Would sexually explicit email fall under the category of no suspicion of injury?

Those charged with protecting us have allowed this situation to exist, contradicting their own proposals and endangering the lives of young boys whose number we will never know because parents and lawmakers can't look past the short term notoriety to prevent this sort of behavior from happening in the future. Parents of sexually abused children and who know the pain everyone in a family endures as a result should take the initiative in situations like this. I'm sure they would have appreciated advanced knowledge to protect their own son.