ExFoleyated – a retraction of sorts
In comments to my original post, Sigivald sayeth:
Is 16 a “young boy”?
That’s the age of consent in DC and in many states (including, I think, those the boys were in when emailed/IM’d), so it’d be legal for Foley to actually diddle the boy in question, which he did not.
Assuming that Sigi is correct, there’s nothing illegal that went down (heh! it’s so easy to toss off some gay jokes – see, I did it again). Now, Foley is likely a dirty old man. And he likely used his position and authority to exert a bit of influence. So, he should go. And it’s not because he’s gay or anything. It’s because his actions were inappropriate for a man in his position (I tell ya, they keep coming).
It’s also looking like the Republican leadership’s supposed knowledge that this was happening was mostly non-existent.
October 4th, 2006 at 9:51 am
He’s lucky that he wasn’t taken down by Stone Phillips on “To Catch a Predator”.
That would move the video of Marion Barry saying “The bitch set me up” into no. 2 on the list of all-time best bust videos.
October 4th, 2006 at 11:14 am
“God-damn bitch, set me up” -Marion Barry
October 4th, 2006 at 11:31 am
Regarding age of consent laws, most states also have age difference laws, meaning that even in states where it would be legal for a 21 year-old man to have sex with a 16 year-old boy it’s still pretty illegal for a 54 year-old man to have sex with a 16 year-old boy. Hence the criminal investigation.
And as I pointed out in the “Catch a Predator” thread, there’s a difference between a young adult who tries to hit on a young teenager and a dirty old man who tries to do it. In the former situation, the young adult (esp. 18-19 year-olds) is more of a peer of the “victim”, while in the latter situation the adult is more likely to be viewed by the kid as a parent or adult authority figure.
The issue here is trust and power and the potential for exploitation. With young adults, they are more likely to be emotionally equal to the younger kid, especially since they might have recently attended the same high school together and share common experiences. With older adults, there is no common connection; the sole motivation is to find a naive child that can be controlled, manipulated and used for the adult’s pleasure.
Most states recognize this, which is why they passed laws that exempt young adults from rape and abuse charges if they aren’t too much older than the victim. With the new hysteria about predators, I’m afraid such laws are going out the window.
October 5th, 2006 at 12:51 am
As far as the consent laws go, remember around 1983 a Democrat had sex with a male page and a Republican had sex with a female page. Both pages were under 18, and I don’t think EITHER went to jail. Actually, the Democrat stayed in office quite some time after that (years). And these guys DID have SEX with the page and not just dirty EMails.
I think that if the police had any criminal evidence, someone would be under arrest by now. Maybe not, but probably (opinion).
You know, it would be REALLY ironic as all get out if this guy REALLY broke no laws at all, and what he did, while creepy, didn’t violate any statutes.
Right now, I believe that’s a possibility until more comes out . . . SO TO SPEAK! 😀