Seattle mayor resigns after cousin accuses him of sexual abuse

Ed Murray, who has denied the claims, says he will not seek another term

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray resigns after a fifth man came forward accusing him of sexual abuse (Getty Images)

The mayor of Seattle has announced his resignation after a fifth man – his cousin – has accused him of sexual abuse.

Ed Murray, who has denied the claims, had already said he would not seek another term but following the fresh allegations has decided to step down.

Joseph Dyer, Mr Murray’s younger cousin, said that when he was 13 years old, the former mayor came to live his family in New York.

In 1975 the two cousins shared a bedroom and Mr Dyer claims he was molested repeatedly during this period.

“There would be times when I would fake sleeping because I didn’t want him touching me,” Mr Dyer told the Seattle Times.

The five other accusations date back decades and one of the five men, Delvonn Heckard, sued Mr Murray claiming he had paid him to have sex when he was a teenager.

Mr Heckard dropped the case and said he would come back to it once Mr Murray was out of office - something the mayor's office claimed was vindication.

After the new allegations from Mr Dyer, Mr Murray released a statement announcing his resignation and apologised for the “painful situation”.

“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,” Mr Murray said, according to The Guardian.

“To the people of this special city and to my dedicated staff, I am sorry for this painful situation.”

Earlier this year, Oregon’s Department of Human Services discovered old files that concluded that Mr Murray had sexually abused his foster child, Jeff Simpson, in the 1980s.

Mr Simpson claims that Mr Murray began sexually abusing him when he was 13 years old, and later paid him for sex in the 1980s.

Mr Murray is one of seven children from an Irish Catholic family and has become one of Seattle’s most prominent political figures.