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	Foley Lawyers Say State Now Knows Identity of Priest Who Allegedly Abused Him By Scott Travis South Florida Sun-Sentinel October 19, 2006 http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-ppriest19oct19,0,2948359.story?coll=sfla-news-palm Former Congressman Mark Foley's attorneys said Wednesday they turned over to Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer the name of the priest who allegedly abused their client in the 1960s. Gerald Richman, Foley's civil lawyer, and David Roth, a criminal lawyer, said in a release this was a joint decision after discussions with attorneys for the Archdiocese of Miami. The statement also said they do not think the clergyman lives in the United States. WPTV-Ch. 5 reported that the priest lives in Ireland and is not well known in Palm Beach County. Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the State Attorney's Office, said the office will not immediately release the name. He said the office first plans to reveal the name to the archdiocese. "At some point there would be a discussion of whether to publicly release the name to encourage any other victims that may be out there to come forward," he said. "That would be after there's a discussion with the diocese." Officials with the archdiocese said Wednesday evening they had not yet received the name and didn't comment further about the release. Foley, 52, resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 29 after being confronted with sexually explicit Internet messages he sent male teenage pages. Through his attorneys, the Fort Pierce Republican has denied any sexual contact with minors. Two days after resigning, he entered an unidentified rehabilitation center, then announced through his lawyers that he was gay and that a clergyman molested him between the ages of 13 and 15. He wouldn't identify the clergyman. Foley attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Lake Worth as a youth. During that time, Palm Beach County was part of the Miami Archdiocese. Richman had a news conference Tuesday to announce that Foley would turn over the name of the priest to the archdiocese, but that he did not plan to seek a criminal investigation because there were too many complications with the case. The lawyer said Wednesday his statement still stands. "That's not the purpose of this," he said, declining to elaborate. Edmondson said there would have to be a request from an alleged victim to pursue a criminal investigation. Still, David Clohessy, director of the St. Louis-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, applauded the move. He had sent a letter to Richman on Wednesday saying he didn't trust the church to police itself and that authorities should be notified. "It does seem like a reversal of what they had planned, and a welcome reversal," he said. Church officials have promised they would conduct a thorough internal investigation once they had a name. Mary Ross Agosta, a spokeswoman for the Miami Archdiocese, said whenever abuse reports surface, the church follows procedures adopted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002. When someone reports abuse, they would offer that person counseling and report the accusation to the State Attorney's Office. The next step would be to research the facts of the case to make sure the accused actually served where abuse was reported. Church officials then call in the priest to get his side. If the case appears to be credible, the priest is placed on leave, she said. Then an independent review board consisting of lay members of the church conducts an investigation and forwards its findings to church leaders, who make the final decision. Church officials requested on Oct. 5 that Foley reveal the name of the alleged abuser to prosecutors. Agosta said she was annoyed that Foley's lawyers held news conferences to say he was abused, while holding off on releasing a name. "This is classic 101 on how not to report abuse," Agosta said. "It's unfair to the church and it's unfair to anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, to dangle this story for weeks." Richman said that her criticism is off base. "We were looking at the issues that were involved and deciding how to handle it with a client who has serious problems and is in rehab," he said. "Under the circumstances, with the limited communication we've had, we've handled it as expeditiously as possible." Scott Travis can be reached at stravis@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6637.
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