West Palm Beach, Fla. – Disgraced former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley will reveal to the Archdiocese of Miami the name of the Roman Catholic clergyman he says abused him as a teenager, Foley’s civil attorney said Tuesday.
“It’s going to be very clear in the coming days that it is a fact as opposed to any possible allegations that it was a fantasy or something made up for political purposes,” attorney Gerald Richman said. “The archdiocese is the one that specifically requested this information. They want this to come out, and we are going to cooperate with them.”
The archdiocese had no immediate comment.
Richman said criminal charges cannot be filed because the statute of limitations expired.
Foley, 52, a Florida Republican, resigned last month after he was confronted with sexually explicit electronic messages he had sent teenage male pages. He has since entered an alcohol rehabilitation program.
Through his criminal defense attorney, David Roth, Foley has said he is gay but denied any sexual contact with minors. He has not been charged with a crime.
Meanwhile, allegations of improper conduct toward teenage pages that are not connected to Foley’s case are under discussion by House overseers of the program, according to a Democratic lawmaker involved in the talks.
Rep. Dale Kildee of Michigan, the only Democrat on the House Page Board, would not say Monday whether the allegations involved Republicans or Democrats, lawmakers or staff members.
Kildee – who is unhappy that Republicans did not tell him about Foley’s improper approaches to male pages – said the Page Board discussed the new allegations in a conference call Monday.
“It was about other allegations, and I’d like to leave it at that,” he said. “Let me just say, not about Mr. Foley. It’s only been allegations.”
The Page Board is reviewing the page program, in which teens are nominated to serve as errand-runners for lawmakers. The FBI also is investigating the Foley case.
