Name the clergyman

From the Palm Beach Post-

The Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach has sent a formal letter asking Mark Foley's attorney to identify the clergyman who allegedly abused the former congressman.

Foley's attorney, David Roth, said during a news conference on Oct. 3 that a clergyman had molested Foley when he was from 13 to 15 years old. He did not identify the person, church or denomination.

"Until such time as you identify the alleged perpetrator," diocese attorney J. Patrick Fitzgerald wrote in an Oct. 5 letter to Roth, "all clergy that served in Palm Beach County have been needlessly placed under suspicion."

Fitzgerald also asked Roth to report Foley's abuser to the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office.

A church policy adopted nationwide in 2002, called the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, encourages victims of child abuse to "come forward, identify the alleged perpetrator and report the abuse to the proper criminal authority," Fitzgerald wrote.

Fitzgerald represents both the Diocese of Palm Beach and the Archdiocese of Miami, of which Palm Beach parishes were a part in the 1960s.

Even if Foley reported a name from that era, it is unlikely that the clergyman could be prosecuted.

Foley was allegedly molested sometime during the years 1967 to 1969. State law made it a felony to assault a girl in those years, but it was not changed to include boys until 1971.

That oversight in the law stymied prosecutors' efforts to charge at least two Florida priests accused of abusing boys in the 1960s.

*****

He served as an altar boy at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Lake Worth and attended Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach during his freshman year in 1969-70.

Many have asked the Fort Pierce Republican to come forward with a name, while others speculate he fabricated the story to deflect attention from his own behavior.

Roth could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Alexis Walkenstein, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Palm Beach, said it has not received a response.

"Certainly, we would like to have the alleged perpetrator identified so we can take appropriate action if necessary," Walkenstein said.

Foley shouldn't name his name molestor for any law enforcement purposes. He should name the person because-

If the clergyman is still alive and working at a church, he may well be still molesting boys. That's the best reason to come clean, that and for Foley to truly heal from the terrible treatment inflicted on him by this clergyman.

Clearing all innocent clergyman from be falsely accused would also be a benefit of Foley coming clean. The potential innuendo tars all men of the cloth who were alive and serving in Palm Beach County at the time David Roth says the molestation happened.

That's if you believe the molestation story given by Foley's attorney. My opinion hasn't changed since when this news first broke, it's a crock. Foley is lying through his teeth to get sympathy.

Linked to- Stuck on Stupid, Bright & Early, Third World County,