Seattle mayor denies sex abuse allegations

Seattle mayor denies sex abuse allegations

Murray was elected mayor in 2013 after a long career in the state Legislature, where he led efforts to legalize same-sex marriage in the state.

In the lawsuit filed Thursday in King County Superior Court, a 46-year-old man, identified only by the initials, D.H., said Murray “raped and molested him” over several years, beginning in 1986 — when he was 15 and addicted to crack cocaine, and when Murray was in his early 30s.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and says D.H. has not previously made any financial demands of Murray.

No charges were filed and an entry in an old Multnomah County district attorney’s database indicates the office considered but rejected a felony third-degree sodomy case in May 1984.

Any other police and child welfare records would have been destroyed by now, officials said.

“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,” the statement said.