Foley Scandal

From Thikipedia

Former US Congressman Mark Foley resigned after admitting to sending salacious emails to a 16-year-old boy. The boy was working as a teenage male assistant, or page. Mr Foley was acting in loco parentis.

Mr Foley could be the first person to be convicted under a new law that he championed to protect minors from internet predation. In 2006, President Bush signed the bill, called the "Keeping that Pervert Mark Foley away from Congressional Pages" Bill. In hindsight, many have questioned why the bill's name did not ring alarm bells earlier.

One requirement of the bill is that Congressmen and pages must wear pedometers at all times so the FBI can see how far they have been together.

The Foley scandal hit the Republican party hard just five weeks before mid-term elections. Some Republicans have accused the Democratic Party of deliberately leaking the story at this time in a bid to win votes. Democrats responded by saying that Republicans deliberately made these allegations just weeks before the same elections, in a bid to win over voters. Both sides have been accused of engaging in politics before.

Mr Foley issued a statement from his rehab center claiming: "I am turning over a new leaf."