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	State Police Defend Decision to Destroy Foley Records Associated Press, carried in The Advocate March 26, 2007 http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/state/hc-26171801.apds.m0697.bc-ct-xgr--mar26,0,7047901.story?coll=hc-headlines-local-wire Hartford, Conn. — The state police defended the department's decision to destroy records from a years-old criminal investigation into alleged child sex abuse by a former state police and fire chaplain, saying a review conducted Monday shows the records were properly handled. "Everything was done within the boundaries of the law," said Lt. J Paul Vance, spokesman for the Connecticut State Police. He said John A. Danaher III, the new public safety commissioner, and state police Col. Thomas Davoren, re-examined when records of a criminal probe into the activities of former Roman Catholic priest Stephen Foley were destroyed. Both officials, he said, determined the paperwork was properly retained for 10 years, according to state law, before being destroyed. Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, who appeared at a news conference Monday with one of Foley's accusers, said he has questions about the timing. "I'm not saying there was a cover-up, I'm just saying it looks like there was," said Lawlor, co-chairman of the legislature's Judiciary Committee. "It looks like the records were destroyed because they knew the lawyers would be looking for them," said Lawlor, suggesting the motivation was to protect the state police and Catholic Church from embarrassment. "It's either an extraordinary coincidence or a deliberate attempt to destroy the records before the lawyers got a hold of it." He said even if the records were destroyed after 10 years, Lawlor said nothing required the state police to get rid of them. Given the pending civil suits against the Archdiocese of Hartford, he said the state police "should have known better at the time" to hang onto the records. The records stemmed from a criminal investigation conducted in the early 1990s into Foley, accused of molesting boys in the 1970s. Foley, who lives at the St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield and denies the allegations, was never charged with any crime because the statute of limitations had expired by the time his accusers brought the allegations forward. Vance said the state police will examine whether Foley has broken any laws by registering a police-style car like the one his accusers say he used to lure them. Foley drives a black Ford Crown Victoria with emergency lights in the grill and the front and back windows, as well as scanners and antennas, despite having no associations with any police or fire agencies. "If there's any violation, he's as culpable as anyone else," Vance said. Vance said the position of police chaplain is mostly honorary and unpaid. He said chaplains are not sworn officers and are not given any equipment. Tony Lembo, one of Foley's accusers who settled a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Hartford, said Foley would use a cruiser-like vehicle to entice boys. Lembo has written a book about his experiences. Lembo said he worries that other boys could be harmed. "To me, this guy is out of control," he said. "If they find any way, any way to put this guy in jail, I'm for that," Lembo said. "If it's got to be over the car, if it's got to be over some issue, if it's got to be over tripping over a banana peel, you won't hear one complaint from me."
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