Who Is Ed Murray? Seattle Mayor Faces Lawsuit Over Sexual Abuse Of Teenagers In 1980s

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has been accused of child sexual abuse of a teenager in the 1980s, according to a new lawsuit filed Thursday by a 46-year-old Kent man. The lawsuit also includes complaints by two other men who accused the mayor of sexual abuse during their teenage. The mayor has denied all allegations, according to his personal spokesman Jeff Reading.

According to the Seattle Times, a statement from Murray's personal spokesman Jeff Reading 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."

Reading also referred to the other two men who accused Murray of sexual abuse saying: "The two older accusations were promoted by extreme right-wing antigay activists in the midst of the marriage equality campaign, and were thoroughly investigated and dismissed by both law enforcement authorities and the media. Mayor Murray will vigorously fight these allegations in court."

Murray has been a well-known politician and has served as the 53rd and current mayor of Seattle. Prior to this, he served in the Washington State Senate from 2007-2013. Before 2013 he served in the Washington State House of Representatives for 11 years. This was not the only allegation he faced. Murray, 61, has also been accused by Jeff Simpson and Lloyd Anderson for sexually abusing them in the 1980s and paying them for sex. They were willing to testify about the accusations, New York Times reported.

"I would really like for him to admit it and to take responsibility," Simpson told two Times reporters who visited him in Portland. "I don't necessarily think that he destroyed my life but I believe a lot of the problems I have stemmed from this," he added.

The lawsuit, which was filed at the King County Superior Court refers to the Kent man as "D.H." and it claims that Murray "raped and molested him" over a course of several years, starting from 1986 when the man was 15-year-old. As the lawsuit claims, D.H. first met Murray while traveling on a Metro bus in the Capitol Hill area. Murray was then 32 years old and he invited D.H. to his apartment where he propositioned him for sex. D.H. said during an interview with Seattle Times this week that Murray paid him for the act and continued to do so for the next four to five years.

"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," D.H. said during the interview.

The lawsuit mentions that D.H. was addicted to drugs at that time and he was "willing to do anything what Murray asked for as little as $10-$20."

"I have been dealing with this for over 30 years," the man, ongoing treatment and better now, said in an interview with the Seattle Times. He said he was coming forward as 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."