SEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Ed Murray resigned Tuesday, just hours after new allegations that he sexually abused a younger cousin decades ago in New York.

Murray, a former Democratic state legislator elected mayor in 2013, said in a statement he is resigning effective 5 p.m. 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 said in a statement.

The Seattle Times reported Tuesday morning on the allegations by Murray's cousin, Joseph Dyer, 54, who has become the fifth man to publicly accuse Murray of sexual abuse.

Dyer says he was 13 when Murray forced him into sex when the two shared a bedroom at Dyer's mother's home in Medford, New York, in the mid-1970s.

Murray flatly denied the accusations, attributing them to bad blood between two estranged wings of the family.

The times reported in July that three decades ago an Oregon child-welfare investigator found Murray had sexually abused his foster son, prompting state officials to conclude that "under no circumstances" should Murray serve as a foster parent in the future.

Oregon's Department of Human Services in April unearthed old records — previously thought to have been destroyed — at the Times' request. The agency initially withheld many of the documents, but it released them to the Times this month after it appealed, agreeing that it was in the public interest to do so.

"In the professional judgement of this caseworker who has interviewed numerous children of all ages and of all levels of emotional disturbance regarding sexual abuse, Jeff Simpson has been sexually abused by Edward Murray," Child Protective Services caseworker Judy Butler wrote in the May 1984 assessment.

Simpson is Murray's former foster son and one of four men who publicly accused him this spring of sexually abusing them long ago.

In a written response, Murray said the child-welfare investigator never interviewed him and that neither he nor his attorney was informed of the findings at the time. He said the allegations were fully investigated and prosecutors never brought charges.

The Oregon records reveal that a Multnomah County prosecutor declined to pursue charges because of Simpson's troubled personality, not because she thought he was lying.

"It was Jeff's emotional instability, history of manipulative behavior and the fact that he has again run away and made himself unavailable that forced my decision," Deputy District Attorney Mary Tomlinson wrote.

She added: "We could not be sure of meeting the high burden of proof in a criminal case — of proof beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty. However, this in no way means that the District Attorney's Office has decided Jeff's allegations are not true."

Murray ended his re-election bid earlier this year because of the scandal, but had staved calls for his resignation before his term is completed this year.

He had retained support for finishing out his term from a majority of the City Council and four former mayors, as well as mayoral candidate Jenny Durkan.

But Durkan withdrew her support in the wake of the new allegations.

"It is time for Mayor Murray to step down," Durkan said in a statement Tuesday, noting that she had previously urged him "to reflect deeply" on whether he should remain in office.

"It's clear that it is in everbody's best interest for him to resign. As a parent, former public official and openly gay woman, these allegations are beyond sad and tragic; no official is above the law."

Durkan's rival in the mayor's race, Cary Moon, already had called for Murray to step down months ago.

-- The Associated Press