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Foley's 'sick' boy e-mails
30/09/2006 21:04 - (SA)
Washington - Republican Mark Foley of Florida resigned from the United States house of representatives on Friday after revelations of compromising e-mails to a 16-year-old male congressional page.
"He sent that letter to the governor (of Florida), which is the process to do that, and he's laid it down for the house, so he has resigned before the house," said house speaker Dennis Hastert.
Foley was favoured to win a re-election against Democrat challenger Tim Mahoney on November 7.
According to an ABC television report, the former congressional page, 16, had complained about e-mails he had received from the six-term politician.
Foley co-chaired the house caucus on missing and exploited children and recently introduced legislation to crack down on internet child pornography sites.
According to ABC, the page forwarded some of Foley's e-mails to a friend, with his own assessment: "Maybe it is just me being paranoid, but seriously. This freaked me out," he wrote. "Sick sick sick sick sick."
Said some of the samples: "Did you have fun at your conference ... what do you want for your birthday coming up ... what stuff do you like to do?"
ABC reported that Foley said in a statement: "I am deeply sorry and I apologise for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent."
ABC said that other pages under 18 had received e-mails that made repeated mention of sexual practices from Foley.
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South Africa
