SEATTLE (AP) – A man jailed on drug charges has accused Seattle Mayor Ed Murray of paying him for sex when the man was a teenager decades ago, claims that were vehemently denied Wednesday by a spokesman for the mayor. He is the fourth man over the last month to accuse the mayor of sex abuse.
The man said in a sworn declaration late Tuesday that he was introduced to Murray by Delvonn Heckard, who filed a lawsuit last month claiming he was sexually abused by Murray in the 1980s when Heckard was a teenager.
The man made the declaration from jail where Heckard’s attorney said he was being held on drug charges.
Court records show he was initially charged with cocaine possession and released from jail but re-booked in March and jailed again. He has also had 116 warrants issued for his arrest since 1991, the records said.
Jeff Reading, the Murray spokesman, labeled the fresh claim an “ambush copycat false accusation.”