Worcester's Turtleboy Sports blog has outed the main source of its story that accused Worcester Magazine editor Walter Bird of sexual harassment. The blog now accuses the source of lying to the Telegram & Gazette about her role in bringing forward the accusations.

The accusations, initially published to the blog in a post on Aug. 17, led the magazine to suspend Bird for two weeks, saying an internal review found the editor's actions were "inappropriate" but were consensual exchanges.

The messages were made public after Worcester City Councilor Michael Gaffney forwarded texts to Turtleboy between Bird and Brittany Legasey, a former city worker, in which Bird made comments to Legasey, some of which were sexual in nature.

Legasey, who alleges in an unrelated lawsuit that she was fired from the city's election office due to her association with Gaffney, forwarded Gaffney the text messages in 2015, the Telegram reports. In August of this year Gaffney, angry at Worcester Magazine for a blog post that said he had inadvertently quoted a white supremacist, released the messages to Turtleboy.

Legasey declined to comment when reached by MassLive. Gaffney did not return a request for comment.

The identity of Legasey, who is president of the Worcester nonprofit Park Spirit Inc., had been known to MassLive and Worcester Magazine for weeks, though both outlets protected her identity in their coverage of the incident.

Turtleboy initially protected her anonymity as well, and accused outlets who focused on Gaffney's role in the situation of being sexist. But after Legasey criticized Gaffney to Worcester Telegram & Gazette columnist Dianne Williamson, the blog published a post publicly outing Legasey and calling her a liar.

"Since the woman is obviously a moron and is trying to make us look like fake news, her name will inevitably come up now," Turtleboy wrote. "The woman's name at the center of this controversy is Brittany Miller Legacey [sic]."

Asked why the blog had decided to name their source, a Turtleboy representative told MassLive Legasey's credibility was damaged.

"She lied to Dianne Williamson in an attempt to discredit both Councilor Gaffney and the blog. At this point her credibility is compromised," the Turtleboy representative said on Facebook. "Plus the mere fact that Walter was brought back by WoMag leads to speculation about the messages she sent him."

In its first post on Bird's messages, Turtleboy -- a vocal opponent of Worcester's mainstream media, and a supporter of Gaffney's crusade against the city's Democratic establishment -- accused Bird of being a "borderline sexual predator." The site said it had information from two other women as well, but based its story almost entirely on Legasey's messages and said that any questions about the source of the text messages were "misogynistic" and disrespectful to Bird's accusers.

That tone changed sharply Wednesday night, after the blog learned that Legasey had communicated with Williamson and walked back her support of Gaffney's actions.

"The bottom line is this - Walter Bird is the big winner today. One of his 'victims' looks like an idiot who will tell you what you want to hear to save her own ass," Turtleboy wrote after publishing her identity. "The others are actual victims, but this one ain't. We got played by her, and Gaffney got played by her, and we own that."

Turtleboy also published messages showing Bird asking out another woman, who Turtleboy said was a former local political candidate. In the messages Bird asked the woman out to dinner or to go to a movie or bowling.

In an earlier post, Turtleboy wrote that it was protecting Legasey's and the other women's identities because mainstream outlets would "go through their personal history and find some way to paint them as harlots."

After Legasey communicated with Williamson, Turtleboy's concern for her reputation lessened. The blog called her a "moron," suggested she was a "drama queen" and reversed its claim that she was victimized by Bird.

"We would never release the name of victims normally. But the fact of the matter is that it's clear Brittany was not a victim," Turtleboy wrote.

The blog, which is written anonymously, has its website and associated LLC registered with the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office to former high school teacher Aidan Kearney.

In Williamson's column, published Thursday morning, Legasey disavows Gaffney's use of the messages. She is not identified by name in the piece, though Williamson describes her as a former Worcester employee who is suing the city.

"I find the entire current situation reprehensible," Legasey texted Williamson. "I was never asked whether my content could be shared in a retaliatory manner and I don't by any means support what Gaffney did."

Turtleboy, which obtained the texts between Legasey and Williamson before the column's publication, disputed Legasey's claims. The blog published earlier messages between Legasey and Gaffney, in which she says Gaffney had permission to use the messages "at any time" and expresses outrage at Worcester Magazine's blog post about the councilor.

Turtleboy also accused Williamson of blackmailing Legasey into criticizing Gaffney. Williamson does not make any threats to Legasey in the messages published by the blog. At one point in their conversation, Williamson writes that she is not sure whether she will publish Legasey's identity -- which Turtleboy claims was an implicit attempt to coerce Legasey into speaking out.

"It's an absurd accusation. I've never threatened anyone in my 30 years as a journalist," Williamson told MassLive. "In this case, I told her I wasn't sure simply because I hadn't yet checked with my editors. That's not as exciting an explanation as the Turtle would like to think, but it's the truth. It's journalism 101."

Bird was placed on leave after the publication of his years-old messages with Legasey. He was reinstated on Sept. 7.

Worcester Magazine has said that Bird's conduct was inappropriate, but that Gaffney's release of the messages was a "sordid and malicious" effort to sabotage the editor's career in retaliation for coverage.

"Remember: an elected official, unhappy with his press coverage, shared information with an anonymous blog in an attempt to attack a member of the press personally," Worcester Mag reporter Bill Shaner wrote in an editorial.