Report: Seattle Mayor Sexually Abused Portland Teenagers

Seattle Times says the alleged abuse started in Portland in the 1980s, when Ed Murray worked as a public defender.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray (right) at a Seahawks game in 2014. (Seattle mayor's office)

The Seattle Times is reporting that two Portland men allege Seattle Mayor Ed Murray sexually abused them when they were teenagers.

The Times report says the abuse allegedly occurred in the 1980s. It says Murray met the two teenagers when they were living in the Parry Center for Children, a Portland center for troubled kids.

Murray was working as a public defender in Portland at that time. A Multnomah County District Attorney's database shows an investigation was conducted but not pursued, the story says.

The Times reported on the Portland-centered allegations as part of a story on a new lawsuit filed against Murray by a Seattle man who says the mayor raped him beginning in 1986. Murray's office issued a strong denial of all allegations to the Times this evening.

"The two older accusations were promoted by extreme right-wing antigay activists in the midst of the marriage equality campaign," spokesman Jeff Reading said, "and were thoroughly investigated and dismissed by both law enforcement authorities and the media."

The Times story includes a detailed interview with Jeff Simpson, a road worker who lived at the Parry Center as a child, when Murray volunteered there.

Murray is popular figure in Seattle, both as a gay-rights champion and a defiant figure against the Trump presidency. He is up for re-election this year.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.