Vince Fumo's daughter has advice for Seth Williams' kids

Another year, another disgraced government official, another bunch of kids subjected to a parent's fall from fame to infamy.

This time around, it's the children of Philly DA Seth Williams, who was indicted this week on corruption charges. Last year, it was the two youngest daughters of convicted U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah and the two teenage sons of convicted Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

It's awful for any child to face the possible incarceration of a parent. For kids of well-known politicians, the ordeal has a special hell.

"You have this last name you were born with, it's your identity," says Allison "Allie" Fumo, 27, daughter of convicted felon and former State Senator Vince Fumo. "And then suddenly your name is in the news, negatively. I had a lot of resentment about that."

Allie was just 16 when her father's legal troubles began; she was 20 when he was sent to a Kentucky prison on federal corruption charges. She's now 27, married, and working in talent development for a start-up company. She lives in Philly, oozes confidence, won't comment publicly about her complicated relationship with her dad, and wouldn't let me take her picture for this column.

"I'd rather not" be photographed, she says with firmness born from years of sticking up for herself.

Good for her.

I reached out to Allie because I can't stop thinking about Seth Williams' three daughters. Nor about the two daughters of Fattah, who started his 10-year sentence in January. Nor the two sons of  Kane, who was found guilty of corruption last August (the verdict is being appealed).

Kane's son Christopher was visibly distraught at his mom's sentencing hearing in October as he begged Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy to keep her out of prison.

"My mom is like my rock," he said. "She's there for me. For her to leave me, it'd be bad. It'd be tough for all of us, for me and my brother and my family."

Note to elected officials tempted to sell their influence: Don't do it. You'll crack your kids' hearts.

I wondered if Allie had any advice for Williams' kids, two of whom are teens (the third is an adult). They're old enough to understand the seriousness of the charges against their dad.

"At the beginning, you're just in shock," says Allie, whom I met in a Rittenhouse Square coffee shop.  "You're worried and confused. You don't know what's going to happen to your family. There's no map to get through it.  I wish I'd had someone to talk to who had been where I was."

What would she tell Williams' daughters?

"It's not your fault; it's not about you. But it will affect you and shape you," she says. "You need to find the right people to surround yourself with. If you have good people in your corner, it'll be enough. You'll heal. But it will take a long time."

Allie thought her life would calm down after her father went to jail. But the aftermath included an upsetting new normal: prison visits.

"It's every family's personal decision" whether or not to visit, she says. "As the child, it's important to separate your own identity from your family's identity."

Visits can help or hinder that process, she says, declining to share personal details of her Kentucky trips.

"You have to make decisions based on what you want," and not in reaction to what has happened to your parent, she says. Otherwise you're allowing the situation to continue to dictate your identity.

"It took a while, but I am definitely my own person," Allie says.

It could help Williams' children that their last name is a common one, she says. For those with a distinctive surname like Fumo or Fattah, it's common for people to ask, "Are you related to that guy?"

Allie always answers yes because she still loves her dad.

"You're gonna love your parent no matter what, and it's OK to love them," she says. "You're always gonna miss them and wonder how they are, but you can also heal."

She'd tell that to Williams' daughters, too.

Now that she's on the other side of her father's ordeal, she says, she realizes how strong she has become.

"I know I can pretty much get through anything," she says. "I'm really happy."