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Murray still denies any wrongdoing but his decision to resign
effective from 5 p.m. local time on Wednesday, likely ends the
political career of Seattle's first openly gay mayor, a member
of the Democratic party who championed the state's same-sex
marriage law and has been an outspoken critic of U.S. President
Donald Trump.
"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, 62, said
in a written statement.
“To the people of this special city and to my dedicated staff, I
am sorry for this painful situation," Murray said.
A spokesman said the mayor, who also served nearly two decades
in the Washington state legislature, would not take questions
from reporters.
Murray said Seattle City Council President Bruce Harrell would
take his place as mayor, at least temporarily, and "will decide
in the following five days whether he will fill out the
remainder of my term."
In April, a 46-year-old man sued Murray, claiming Murray paid
the man for sex with him and other boys when he was a homeless,
drug-addicted teenager in the 1980s, though the lawsuit was
later dropped.
The Seattle Times newspaper reported at the time that two other
men had previously accused Murray of abusing them when they were
teenagers in the 1980s.
In July, the paper reported that a child welfare report filed
with the state of Oregon said Murray sexually abused his teenage
foster son in the 1980s.
The mayor has vehemently denied all of those accusations, at
times suggesting that they were politically motivated, and
refused repeated calls to step down, but in May said he would
not seek re-election.
His resignation announcement came hours after a younger cousin,
Joseph Dyer, told the Seattle Times in a story published on
Tuesday that Murray molested him repeatedly when he was a
teenager in the 1970s.
Dyer said that Murray was also accused of abusing a boy at the
Catholic group home where he worked, but was not prosecuted
after agreeing to leave town.
Murray denied those allegations, blaming them on a "family
rift."
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Additional reporting
and writing by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; editing by Peter
Cooney)
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