Seattle's out mayor, Ed Murray, has
strongly denied charges that he sexually abused a troubled teen in
the 1980s.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday, the
unidentified man claims that he carried out a sexual relationship
with Murray after meeting him on a bus at the age of 15.
The man, who admits he worked as a
prostitute and was on drugs at the time, claims Murray propositioned
him for sexual favors for as little as $10-$20 in his Capitol Hill
apartment.
According to the lawsuit, the man
recently decided to come forward after undergoing counseling.
Murray's attorney Bob Sulkin called the
accusations “false.”
“[Murray] has not engaged in any
inappropriate conduct with a minor, and I don't think it's a
coincidence that these allegations have occurred in the midst of a
mayoral campaign,” he
said.
The 61-year-old Murray was elected
mayor in 2014 after nearly two decades of service in the Washington
State Legislature. Murray's husband Michael Shiosaki works for the
city of Seattle.