A younger cousin of Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has become the fifth man to accuse the longtime politician of sexual abuse.
Murray announced plans to resign Wednesday hours after the allegations surfaced on Tuesday.
"I am announcing my resignation as mayor, effective at 5 p.m. tomorrow," Murray said in a statement. "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."
"I'm proud of all that I have accomplished over my 19 years in the Legislature, where I was able to pass what were at the time the largest transportation packages in state history, a landmark gay civil rights bill and a historic marriage equality bill.
Joseph Dyer, 54, said he was 13 years old when Murray sexually assaulted him for a year while they shared a bedroom in Dyer's mother's home on Long Island, New York in the 1970s.
A news conference scheduled for 11 a.m. to announce a deal for the redevelopment of KeyArena was abruptly canceled after The Seattle Times broke news of the new claims against Murray at the same time.
Dyer, now 54, explained his motivations for making public his accusations against Murray.
“I have come forward after these years to stand in support of Delvonn Heckard, the other accusers, and all sex abuse victims,” Dyer said in a declaration provided by attorneys for Heckard, whose sexual abuse claims against Murray first brought long-whispered allegations against the mayor to the fore.
“I am offering this declaration to rebut Murray’s claims that he never molested a child and/or the allegations against him were concocted as some sort of right-wing conspiracy,” Dyer continued. “I do not know any of the other victims mentioned in this statement, and I am not part of any conspiracy.”
Murray denied the allegations Tuesday morning in a statement to the Times, citing a family rift.
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Murray's communications director Benton Strong wouldn't say why he was canceling the press conference.
"I'm just canceling the press conference," he said.
Mayoral candidate Jenny Durkan, who in June accepted Murray's endorsement for the office, called for him to step down in a statement released after noon Tuesday. She had previously stopped short of calling for his resignation, and didn't reject the endorsement in the newest statement.
"It is time for Mayor Murray to step down," Durkan said in the emailed statement. "I previously urged the Mayor to reflect deeply about whether he could continue to lead and what was in the best interests of the city. It's clear that it is in everyone'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. "
Four other men earlier this year accused Murray of sexual abuse in the 1980s when they were teens, some of them addicted to drugs and homeless. One of those men was Murray's foster son for a time.
The growing scandal pushed Murray, a progressive Democrat, to drop out of the mayoral race in May, but he has resisted calls to resign from city councilmembers, the city's Human Rights and LGBTQ commissions and others.
Heckard filed suit against Murray in early April, saying the mayor had paid him for sex dozens of times starting when Heckard was 15, addicted to drugs and homeless. Murray would have been in his early 30s at the time.
Three other men made similar accusations, one of whom filed a declaration in support of Heckard's claims.
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Heckard then withdrew his claim in June, saying he planned to refile the lawsuit next year.
In July, the Times obtained a 1984 report by Oregon's Child Protective Services in which an investigator found that Murray had indeed abused Jeff Simpson, who had been in Murray's care as a foster child in Portland, where Murray lived at the time.
But citing Simpson's instability at the time, prosecutors ultimately opted to not pursue a criminal case against Murray.
When the report surfaced in July, Murray made much of the lack of criminal charges. He said instead that it offered no new evidence against him.
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Dyer said Murray lived with his family in Medford, New York, for about a year in the mid-1970s. Dyer claims he was regularly molested by Murray, who would have been in his teens at the time.
In his declaration, Dyer said it was “well understood and believed” that Murray was molesting children at a nearby orphanage.
Dyer also noted, correctly, that Murray has used the public platform provided him as mayor to respond to lawsuits brought against him as a private person. In doing so, Murray and his staff may have created an opportunity for Heckard and other accusers Murray disparaged to sue the city.
Despite two of the nine members of city council calling for his resignation and one calling for a committee to consider impeaching the mayor, no action was taken by city council.
Murray’s supporters, including mayoral frontrunner Jenny Durkan, have done a disservice to victims of child sexual abuse by refusing to speak out against the mayor, Dyer said.
“Speaking out confidently in favor of removing Murray from office is not ‘grandstanding’ – it is the right thing to do,” Dyer said in his declaration. “Murray is a child sex predator, and cannot be trusted. …
“I ask that Seattle’s elected officials have the courage to step up and do what is right, and remove Murray from office.”
Dyer described himself as being represented by Lincoln Beauregard, a Connelly Law Offices attorney representing Heckard. Dyer does not appear to have filed a lawsuit in the matter.