Lawsuit alleges Seattle Mayor Ed Murray sexually abused troubled teen in 1980s

[alp227]

Source: Seattle Times

A 46-year-old Kent man sued Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on Thursday, claiming Murray “raped and molested him” over several years, beginning in 1986 when the man was a 15-year-old high-school dropout.

The lawsuit in King County Superior Court, filed under the man’s initials, “D.H.,” alleges Murray sexually abused the crack-cocaine addicted teen on numerous occasions for payments of $10 to $20.

“I have been dealing with this for over 30 years,” the man, now sober for a year, 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.”

Murray, who is running for re-election this year, vehemently denied the allegations. He abruptly canceled a news conference about police reform scheduled for Thursday afternoon and did not make a public appearance.

Read more: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/lawsuit-alleges-seattle-mayor-ed-murray-sexually-abused-troubled-teen-in-1980s/

[tenorly]

1. Just heinous. If Mike McGinn had been reelected, we wouldn't have this problem on our hands now.

But corporate interests got their candidate elected, so now here we are. Faux News in having a field day no doubt.

[LisaM]

3. I liked McGinn, too.

As soon as Murray was in office, the cranes re-appeared downtown.

[NWCorona]

6. They are all over the place! And the hight limit on buildings has been raised as well.

[LisaM]

7. They just knocked down the pretty little Galland Building on Second and University.

The glass tower going up in its place is going to be a real eyesore.

[NWCorona]

11. I really liked that building. This is what it looked like when it first opened.

I have been taking photos for awhile now of the old buildings being torn down. I don't even recognize south Lake union anymore.

[LisaM]

15. Oh wow. Gorgeous.

That's before the other building that they knocked down just north of it was even built.

The Diller Hotel building, just behind the Galland Building in this picture, was protected and it got to stay. In general, Seattle is dismal about preserving historical buildings. My cousins lived in an apartment building called The Willamsburg, next to the old bus station, and it couldn't get landmark status because someone had made an addition approximately 100 years ago!!! So down it went and some monstrosity is there now.

[suffragette]

28. Me, too. Also, with Murray in, plans for municipal broadband went away. McGinn wasn't able

To get that done successfully, but at least he was trying. And he would have kept trying after that first attempt, instead of rolling over for Comcast.

[alp227]

4. Reading about him on Wikipedia...

McGinn seems to be a Bernie Sanders populist type.

[LisaM]

9. No, just an earthy guy.

He didn't seem the least like Bernie Sanders, he didn't really remind me of anyone. He happened to replace a seriously pro-development guy, Greg Nickels, and then he was booted out for another pro-development guy. Downtown has become completely horrible.

[pnwmom]

5. Guilty without even a trial? n/t

[NWCorona]

8. We definitely need to take a step back and let it play out.

[cstanleytech]

24. Ya but it probably wont play any way I can see other than being dismissed because of

the statute of limitations regarding civil cases in that state for such things and I assume the criminal ones have expired as well.

[LisaM]

10. I don't know if it's going anywhere.

In one of the articles I read yesterday, it said that these charges were without merit and had been dismissed previously.

[grantcart]

12. Very credible accusation

two other men who were in exactly the same circumstances raised the issue 10 years ago and stand by their accusations and are not seeking financial relief.

[pnwmom]

14. Those cases weren't adjudicated. Since this one WILL be, we are ALL protected by maintaining

the constitutional presumption of innocence.

[grantcart]

17. That is for legal considerations.

Political considerations should consider all relevant credible accusations.

The reason that Anita Hill was deemed credible was because there were independent accusations made at the same time.

Similarly we know that the allegations against Trump assaulting women were true because a dozen credible women had told their friends a decade ago, and none were adjudicated.

We know that sexual assaults, especially against vulnerable populations, are rarely reported and even more rarely prosecuted.

We should not use one standard for one group of politicians who we agree with on policy, and another for people who we disagree with.

To be consistent you would have to apply the same standard against Thomas and Trump since there was no adjudication.

If a Republican mayor faced the same level of credible accusations we would demand resignation. More media scrutiny is required but if they hold then the mayor should resign regardless of legal proceedings.

[pnwmom]

19. But there IS going to be adjudication against the Mayor, so I am being consistent.

I said the same thing here when most of DU was declaring the Duke Lacrosse team guilty.

Our legal system depends on the presumption of innocence, and Murray is now facing the legal system.

[grantcart]

21. The suit is filed there is not guarantee that it will proceed

a) If it is established that he remembered the abuse as an adult and took no action then the suit will be tossed, there is no possibility of criminal action because even though 3 separate victims made strikingly similar complaints for criminal prosecution the system was reluctant to proceed against established professionals at the time. If those same complaints had been made today he probably would face criminal prosecution

b) This has to do with moral and political judgement not legal. Since there was no legal action that could be taken against Trump do you conclude that he did not assault those women?

The Seattle Times was aware of the previous complaints which were established independently of this one ten years ago:

Two men, Jeff Simpson and Lloyd Anderson, said they knew Murray when they were growing up in a Portland center for troubled children, and later as teenagers. They accuse Murray of abusing them in the 1980s when he was in his 20s. Simpson made the claim as a teen in 1984, and talked with a social worker and detective at the time. No charges were filed.

Both men raised the allegations a decade ago, with one making calls to reporters and Washington state lawmakers. They repeated the accusations in recent interviews with The Seattle Times, saying they would testify in court if needed.

Now, with the D.H. lawsuit, Murray faces a formal public accusation for the first time, and details of the case bear similarities to the earlier allegations

You are either going to have the same bar for either party or you make exceptions for the home team.

There is nothing in this report that makes it analogous to the politically charged Duke prosecution whatsoever. This is a story that has been documented for over 10 years with unrelated complainants making very credible charges consistently over a long period of time. While completely different from the Duke affair it is exactly on point with both Justice Thomas and Trump's statements. If you withhold judgement on this case then you have nothing to say about those and the fact that you make legal arguments when it is a moral question about a situation that cannot face criminal (and possibly civil) process is astonishing. If this was a Republican mayor we would be calling for his head, with justification.

[pnwmom]

23. And if and when they rule that it WON'T proceed, then that will be a different situation.

Till then, let the legal system proceed under the usual presumption of innocence.

[grantcart]

27. It is NOT a different situation because there is a distinction between a moral conclusion

that should be applied to leaders based on credible facts.

The victims made a criminal complaint and it was not followed up on, probably because the victim decided to move to live out of Murray's house (where he move in when he was 15)

The only remaining record corroborating the investigation is a “case fact sheet” entry from an old Multnomah County District Attorney’s database. It indicates the DA’s office considered but rejected a felony third-degree sodomy charge, a crime against children, that identified Murray in May 1984.

Just because he was able to avoid prosecution during a time when victims of sexual abuse were not taken seriously or as well understood as they are today doesn't mean that Murray should not be held accountable in the political field. Frankly the evidence against Justice Thomas and President Trump were no where as significant as they are here where the victims tried to do the right thing in the criminal justice system and were let down.

[tenorly]

16. I hear you.

In the meantime though, it's a big political headache for WA Democrats - one that could have been avoided.

[cstanleytech]

2. I am going to bet that the case gets dismissed as the statute of limitations for filing

a civil case passed long ago assuming of course I am reading it correctly here http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/state-civil-statutes-of-limitations-in-child-sexua.aspx for Washinton state


"Claims of action shall be commenced within three years of the act alleged to have caused the injury or condition; within three years of the time of discovery or reasonably should have discovered that the injury or condition was caused by abuse; or within three years of the time the victim discovered that the act caused the injury for which the claim is brought provided that the time limit for commencement of an action is tolled for a child until the he/she reaches eighteen years."

Of course I have been wrong before and I could be wrong now but I just dont think he is going to be able to prevail in court.

[grantcart]

22. I think you are right, never will be adjudicated.

[angrychair]

13. While this person may well be a legitimate victim

The timing and impact seem like just more kabuki theater. This particular city and mayor have been a very pointy stick in the current administration's eye and such legal entanglements serve as a way to discredit and "kill the messenger" even if their message is valid.

If the accusations are true than he should step down.

Unfortunately, if true or not, the city's has taken a huge public opinion hit and even if the mayor steps down, the damage is done. If this becomes a trend in Democratic strongholds, people popping out of the woodwork to discredit or disparage Democrats in office, if true or not, will greatly impact our ability to win back control of state legislatures and Congress.
Our republic has never been more in danger of collapse than it is now.

[BBG]

18. We have a deep bench to draw from

There are more progressives in Seattle to draw from if Murray has to step aside. And Murray hasn't been all that citizen oriented, more the developer's mayor. On a broader stage this will not stop Seattle and Washington state from standing forth against the anarchy-fascists.

[Bradical79]

20. Any reason to think he did this?

Or is it a single accusation out of the blue? I know nothing about the guy.

[cstanleytech]

25. I think I read that there were 2 others a few years ago but all of them are probably well past

the statute of limitations I assume since nothing ever happened to him over it in either civil or criminal court.

[grantcart]

26. Read the article at the link

Three different men have given very detailed similar complaints. Some of the complaints were made 10 years ago. The men seem very credible. When he was 15 he moved into Murray's house and lived with him for many years.

The only remaining record corroborating the investigation is a “case fact sheet” entry from an old Multnomah County District Attorney’s database. It indicates the DA’s office considered but rejected a felony third-degree sodomy charge, a crime against children, that identified Murray in May 1984.

Simpson admitted he was a bad witness, running away to live on the streets, doing drugs and earning cash as a prostitute.

In 1984 there was a lot more weight put on the victim. Some of the victims went public 10 years ago. The victims had detailed knowledge of Murray's apartment layout. There are legal documents where the boys are arrested and gave Murray's address as their home address. The mayor made payments to one of the victims.