In 2014, Ed Murray became Seattle’s first openly gay mayor, having married his longtime partner in 2013. He is a strong advocate for LGBT rights. Just days ago, he joined the fight against Donald Trump, filing suit over the federal attack on “sanctuary cities” for immigrants.
But sadly his legacy may be tarnished by a new sex scandal.
The 61-year-old is now facing a lawsuit over underage sexual abuse accusations from three decades ago.
Related: The Sexual Harassment Allegations Bill O’Reilly And Fox News Tried To Keep Quiet
A man identified publicly only as D.H. says Murray “raped and molested him” for multiple years, starting in 1986 when he was just 15 years old.
D.H. says he was a crack addict high school dropout when Murray would, on multiple occasions over the course of years, pay him $10-20 to sexually abuse him.
The plaintiff, who says he has been sober for a year now, tells the Seattle Times he is coming forward after 30 years partly because his father recently died, so he no longer has anyone to keep the secret from. He says being honest is “part of a ‘healing process’ after years of ‘the shame, the embarrassment, the guilt, the humiliation that I put myself through and that he put me through.'”
D.H. says he met the future Mayor on a Metro bus, and that Murray, then around 30 years old, invited him back to his apartment and propositioned him, haggling him down from $15 to $10 for sexual favors.
Murray allegedly continued to pay D.H. for sex around 50 times over the next 4-5 years. D.H. says:
“And there’s times he would be doing certain things and I would tell him to stop and he wouldn’t stop, and I let it happen because I wanted that money so I can go get those drugs.”
According to the suit, Murray asked D.H.’s age before the first time, so he knew that he was under 16. That would mean he knowingly committed child rape under state law, though the statute of limitations on criminal charges has long passed.
Mayor Murray has responded to the news of the lawsuit through his spokesman Jeff Reading, who said:
“These false accusations are intended to damage a prominent elected official who has been a defender of vulnerable populations for decades. It is not a coincidence that this shakedown effort comes within weeks of the campaign filing deadline. These unsubstantiated assertions, dating back three decades, are categorically false. Mayor Murray has never engaged in an inappropriate relationship with any minor. ├óΓé¼┬ª Mayor Murray will vigorously fight these allegations in court.”
This new suit has brought up other accusations against Murray that never made it to court.
Lloyd Anderson‘s claim is similar to D.H.’s. He says he was a 16-year-old runaway in Oregon when Murray paid him for sex several times, about $15-30.
Anderson and D.H. both described Murray’s genitalia in detail, and their descriptions seem to match.
Related: Donald Trump Facing Defamation Lawsuit From Sexual Assault Accuser
Jeff Simpson‘s claim is more disturbing. He says he met Murray when he was just a child; the future politician did charity work at a center for troubled children while in college.
Around 1980, when a 13-year-old Simpson was living in a group home, he was allowed to stay the night at Murray’s. That’s when he says he was molested for the first time.
That apparently happened several times over the next couple years, until eventually the troubled teen moved in with Murray. After two years, Simpson says, Murray kicked him out after a fight, leading to him reporting the molestation to a group home counselor, which started a police investigation. Charges were never filed.
Simpson apparently tried to file charges of his own in 2007, but ultimately was dropped by his attorney after his criminal record went public — apparently the work of Murray’s own attorney.
The only evidence that corroborates Simpson’s story is a case fact sheet saying the D.A. considered charging Murray with “felony third-degree sodomy” in 1984, though no other names are mentioned.
Photos: Celebs Who Have Opened Up About Surviving Sexual Assault
Murray’s spokesman has a response to these other claims as well:
“The two older accusations were promoted by extreme right-wing anti-gay activists in the midst of the marriage equality campaign, and were thoroughly investigated and dismissed by both law enforcement authorities and the media.”
This is obviously an incredibly disturbing case. Everything about it breaks our hearts.
All we can hope is that justice is served.
[Image via Facebook.]
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