Ed Murray denies claim by cousin of abuse decades ago but says he will leave office effective Wednesday afternoon: ‘I am sorry for this painful situation’

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Seattle’s mayor, Ed Murray, has resigned after a fifth man – one of his cousins – accused him of historical sexual abuse.

Murray, who had already announced that he would not seek a second term even as he denied the claims, said on Tuesday he would step down effective 5pm Wednesday.

“While the allegations against me are not true, it is important that my personal issues do not affect the ability of our city government to conduct the public’s business,” Murray, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Murray made the announcement after the Seattle Times reported on the allegations by the mayor’s first cousin once removed, Joseph Dyer.

“To the people of this special city and to my dedicated staff, I am sorry for this painful situation,” Murray said.

Four men had previously accused Murray of sexually abusing them. One, Delvonn Heckard, sued the mayor in April, saying Murray had paid him for sex when Heckard was a teen.

Heckard subsequently dropped the case, saying he would refile it after Murray was out of office. At the time, the mayor claimed the dropping of the lawsuit as vindication.

This year, Oregon’s department of human services discovered old files that included a child welfare investigator’s conclusion that Murray sexually abused Jeff Simpson in the early 80s; Murray was Simpson’s foster parent.

Dyer told the newspaper he was 13 and that Murray was in his early 20s when Murray came to live with Dyer’s family in Medford, New York, in 1975. The two shared a bedroom, and Murray repeatedly molested him over the course of a year, Dyer said.

“There would be times when I would fake sleeping because I didn’t want him touching me,” Dyer said.

Dyer said the molestation stopped only after Murray was accused of abuse by a boy in a Catholic group home where Murray worked. Dyer told the Times his uncle persuaded the group home not to pursue charges as long as Murray left.

Murray has not faced criminal charges. He denied abusing Dyer and blamed the allegation on resentment between their families.

Before being elected mayor in 2013, Murray, 62, was a longtime state lawmaker who led the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington state. As mayor, he pushed to raise the city’s minimum hourly wage to $15.

Murray grew up in working-class neighborhoods in and around Seattle as one of seven children in an Irish Catholic family and became one of the state’s most prominent political figures.

As a young man, he considered joining the priesthood and spent a year at a seminary in 1976 before studying sociology at the University of Portland, a private Catholic institution.

During his 18 years as a state lawmaker, Murray, who is gay, was the prime sponsor of Washington’s gay marriage law, spearheaded an effort to protect LGBTQ youth in public schools and led the state’s push to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Murray has kept his recent campaign promise about a minimum wage increase and also recently fought to boost funding to address Seattle’s homelessness crisis.

After Trump was elected last fall, Murray became a frequent critic. He announced that Seattle was suing over Trump’s executive order that threatens to withhold federal funds from communities that refuse to cooperate with efforts to find and deport immigrants in the country illegally.