WEST PALM BEACH, Florida Florida authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the sexually explicit computer messages that disgraced lawmaker Mark Foley sent to male former interns.

"It was a preliminary inquiry before, but we found the basis to open up a criminal investigation," Kristen Perezluha, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said on Nov. 16. She would not elaborate.

The FBI is investigating whether Foley broke federal laws with his messages to teenaged former congressional pages and the House Ethics Committee is looking into whether senior Republican officials hid what they knew about the messages.

Foley resigned Sept. 29 after being confronted with the lurid messages. His attorney, David Roth, has said Foley never had inappropriate sexual contact with minors. He declined to comment Nov. 16 on the criminal investigation.

Florida law prohibits seducing or attempting to seduce a minor. However, authorities have said the term "seduce" is open to interpretation.

Foley returned to Florida to attend his father's funeral Sunday after spending a month in an Arizona rehabilitation facility for alcoholism. Edward Foley died Nov. 14 of cancer.

Foley entered the treatment facility Oct. 1, shortly before his attorneys announced he was gay, an alcoholic and that he had been molested by a priest as a teenage altar boy in Florida.

The Rev. Anthony Mercieca has admitted having inappropriate encounters with Foley.

Foley has not been seen publicly since shortly after his resignation.




This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition, November 24, 2006.