By Laurie Goodstein
New York Times [United States]
October 5, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/washington/05abuse.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Former Representative Mark Foley's declaration that he was sexually abused as a teenager by a cleric has angered many victims of sexual abuse by clergy members, who say that being victimized as a youth is no excuse for victimizing others.
If Mr. Foley was abused, they said, he has a responsibility to report his abuser to the police immediately and to identify the cleric publicly.
"You certainly don't wait," said Peter Isely, a clinical social worker in Minneapolis who was abused by a priest as a teenager and is an official of a national advocacy group for victims. "It's extremely important that the secrecy be pierced immediately, because there could be kids at risk."
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As a child in Lake Worth, Fla., Mark Foley was an altar boy at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Photo by The Palm Beach Post |
Mr. Foley, 52, resigned from his Florida Congressional seat last Friday after news reports revealed that he had been sending sexually suggestive e-mail to high school students who worked as pages in the House of Representatives. On Tuesday Mr. Foley's lawyer, David Roth, said in a news conference that the former congressman is gay and had been sexually abused from age 13 to 15 by a member of the clergy. Mr. Roth said Mr. Foley did not blame his conduct on the abuse he suffered as a teenager. Mr. Roth did not identify the cleric or even the denomination, saying, "I cannot comment on whether the clergyman was a priest, a minister, an imam or a rabbi."
Mr. Roth did say, however, that Mr. Foley was raised a Roman Catholic and attended Catholic schools in Lake Worth, Fla. That information led members of the extensive support networks for abuse victims to speculate that if Mr. Foley indeed had been abused, the abuser was most likely a Catholic priest.
Officials of both the Archdiocese of Miami and the Diocese of Palm Beach, which was established in 1984 and now includes the area where Mr. Foley grew up, said that Mr. Foley's assertions were too vague to merit a response.
"Mr. Foley has not reported any sexual abuse to the Diocese of Palm Beach," said Alexis Walkenstein, director of communications, "and if he has been hurt by anyone in the Catholic Church, we would encourage him to report it to the appropriate entity and to law enforcement."
After days of revelations about Mr. Foley's e-mail messages to young pages, victims of sexual abuse said in interviews yesterday that while his claim of abuse could be genuine, it was infuriating because it reinforced the idea that victims of child abuse grew up to abuse others.
Melissa Lucia, 57, who said she had been abused by a priest in Interlachen, Fla., said she was furious as she heard Mr. Foley, through his lawyer, attribute his problems to alcoholism and then disclose his homosexuality and abuse as a child.
"There are thousands of us out there who are alcoholics, or who are gay or who were molested by clergy, that do not do this to other people," said Ms. Lucia, who said she had been molested by a priest at a Catholic boarding school. "That is not your justification to mess up other people's lives."
David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said that Mr. Foley's decision to proclaim a history of victimization at a moment of crisis was common.
"There is no ideal time to disclose this stuff," Mr. Clohessy said. "Most survivors disclose it after their eighth drunk driving arrest or their wife saying she wants a divorce, or their fifth bar fight."
"Childhood trauma doesn't excuse criminal behavior," Mr. Clohessy added. "I hope he will find the strength to do what thousands of other victims have done, which is publicly expose the predator — whether he's alive or dead."
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