Politicians have had a long history of having sexual relationships by exploiting powerless people associated with politics. At times even minors have been victimized. The 1983, Congressional Page Sex Scandal was one such scandal, which rocked the country.

Pages are High School students sponsored by political parties to carry out administrative functions in the House of Representatives. Two politicians, Rep. Dan Crane (R-IL) and Rep. Gerry Studds (D-MA) were involved in one of the most famous sex scandals of the 1980s. In 1983 the House Ethics Committee recommended these two politicians for a reprimand.

Crane was accused of having had sex four or five times at his suburban apartment with a female page sometime in 1973. The age of the page then was 17 years. Studds was accused of having a gay relationship with a male page. He took him to Portugal on a visit and also had sex with him in his apartment in Georgetown.

The House took a serious note of the conduct by the two politicians and voted by a supermajority to revise the reprimand recommendation to censure. The award of a censure was more severe than a reprimand. Before the censures were pronounced both the politicians admitted to serious errors of judgment. 

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