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	Attorney: Foley Was Molested As Teen by Clergyman By Brian E. Crowley Palm Beach Post October 3, 2006 http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbccentral/content/local_news/epaper/2006/10/03/1003foley.html West Palm Beach — Former Congressman Mark Foley was molested by a clergyman from the time he was 13 until he was 15, his attorney said today. Foley, who resigned from Congress Friday after he was confronted with inappropriate e-mails that he exchanged with a 16-year-old former page, also directed lawyer David Roth to announce publicly for the first time that he is gay. • Statement from attorney David Roth Photos NEWS 12: Foley molested, attorney says U.S. Rep. Mark Foley resigns Mark Foley Disclosure of inappropriate communications with teen pages ends career. Latest news, video, more Your Post Comment on this story Florida politics blog More local news Latest breaking news, photos and all of today's Post stories. • State news Storm 2006: Hurricane news • Sound off in the forum • Columnists • Crime, live scanners • Photos | Special reports • Weather | Traffic | Obituaries "Finally Mark Foley wants you to know that he is a gay man," Roth said in the 6 p.m. press conference at Centennial Park in West Palm Beach. Roth said Foley, who is in treatment for alcoholism, directed him to make the statements as part of Foley's recovery. "This was a life decision, not a tactical one made by others." Roth said Foley wanted to announce the name of the individual and the denomination of the church, but upon counseling decided to wait until after his treatment to release those details. Foley is Catholic and was an altar boy at Sacred Heart Church in Lake Worth. Foley's alleged childhood sexual abuse could have contributed to his own abusive behavior, according to a psychiatrist. "There's no question that being sexually abused as a child increases the risk of being a perpetrator," says Dr. Jon Shaw, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Miami. "Sometimes the sexual victimization, while a horrifying experience, can often lead to sexual arousal at the same time. It's very confusing to the child. They later can identify with the aggressor, and do unto a child what was done unto them. They may pick a child roughly the same age they were when they were victimized. They become both the perpetrator and the victim." Shaw said he didn't think that being abused by an authority figure, like a priest or a teacher, increases the tendency to be sexually abusive as an adult. "A child gets victimized, experiences arousal along with pain, powerlessness, there may become an imbedded deviant pathway for sexual gratification and a readiness to repeat the pattern." Not every child who is abused becomes an abuser, and only a small percentage actually do, he said. There are no good studies on cause and effect. "We don't quite know why, how a child goes from victim to victimizer, but clearly in many instances there is a connection." Roth's announcement came hours after ABC News reported that it obtained new instant messages between Foley and unnamed teenager while Foley waited to cast his vote in April 2003 on HR 1559, Emergency War Time supplemental appropriations. ABC is reporting that it has received "52 separate instant message exchanges which former pages say were sent by Foley, using the screen name Maf54, to two different boys under the age of 18." While waiting to vote at 7 p.m. Foley, according to ABC , engaged "in Internet sex with a high school student who had served as a congressional page." ABC did not provide the more lurid aspects of the exchange. It simply said. "Foley and the teen both appear to describe having sexual orgasms." Then the exchange continues: Maf54: ok..i better go vote. . .did you know you would have this effect on me Teen: lol I guessed Teen: ya go vote -- I don't want to keep you from doing our job Maf54: can I have a good kiss goodnight Teen: :-* Teen: (kiss) Later, Foley invite the teen to come to Foley's Washington home where they can drink in private. Maf54: your not old enough to drink Teen: shhh... Maf54: ok Teen: that's not what my ID says Teen: lol Maf54: ok Teen: I probably shouldn't be telling you that huh Maf54: we may need to drink at my house so we don't get busted.
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