Republican Congressman Mark Foley of Florida resigned over messages he sent to a minor over a year ago. The Capitol Hill page was only 16 when he received the graphic emails from Foley. The messages were reported to congressional officials back in August of 2005, but they only surfaced Sunday when a site devoted to exposing sexual predators made them public.

In the past, Foley has been hounded by the gay press to come out about his sexuality after it was reported that he was in a relationship with another man. However, he denied these claims, calling them “revolting” and insisting that his sexual orientation was unimportant. Foley�s resignation also comes as shocking news since he was one of the foremost opponents to child pornography when he was in the House.

Foley had served as chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. He introduced a bill in 2002 to outlaw websites featuring sexually suggestive images of preteen children, saying that “these websites are nothing more than a fix for pedophiles.” In June 2003 he wrote letters to the governor and attorney general of Florida, asking them to review the legality of a program for teenagers of a Lake Como nudist resort in Land O’Lakes, Florida.

Foley’s legislation to change federal sex offender laws was supported by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh, and a number of victims’ rights groups. President George W. Bush signed it into law as part of the Adam Walsh Child Safety and Protection Act of 2006. Foley also succeeded in getting a law passed that allows volunteer youth-serving organizations like the Boy Scouts of America and Boys and Girls Clubs to have access to FBI fingerprint background checks to help protect children.

This exposure of Foley�s hypocrisy and sexual misconduct has been called a political attack by Republicans. The GOP claims that this is part of a smear campaign just six weeks before the general election. However, Tim Mahoney, Foley�s Democratic challenger, insists he is not behind the release of this information.

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