(Mark) Foley Unlikely to Be Prosecuted; Lewd Internet Messages Too Old

[sabra]

Source: ABC News Blotter

Disgraced former Congressman Mark Foley, whose e-mails and instant messages to teenage former congressional pages shocked the country, may avoid criminal prosecution in Florida because of the state's three-year statute of limitations.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement did not start a criminal investigation of Foley until November 2006, making it nearly impossible to prosecute what some officials regarded as the best case, an explicit instant message sent by Foley to a 17-year-old high school student in February 2003, when Foley was in Pensacola, Fla.

"Barring any extraordinary circumstances, it is very unlikely for charges to be filed in a case once the statute of limitations has run its course," said Aya Gruber, a former federal public defender and professor of law at Florida

...

The statute of limitations hasn't been the only hurdle in the Florida investigation. Last month, lawyers for the U.S. House of Representatives denied Florida law enforcement officials access to the former congressman's computers, as previously reported on the Blotter on ABCNews.com. Investigators believe Foley may have used the machines to send illegal sexually explicit message to former congressional pages.

Read more: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/09/foley-unlikely-.html