Seattle Mayor Ed Murray Resigns After Fifth Sex Abuse Allegation

SEATTLE, WA - A long sex abuse scandal involving Seattle Mayor Ed Murray came to a probable conclusion Tuesday afternoon when Murray resigned after the Seattle Times reported a fifth abuse allegation by the mayor's own cousin. Allegations of Murray's abuse have been public since before he became mayor in 2013, but Murray was forced to confront the allegations when a Kent man, Delvonn Heckard, 46, sued him this spring over sex abuse that allegedly occurred in the 1980s.

Murray, 62, has denied every single allegation against him - including the latest by his cousin, Joseph Dwyer - and for months resisted calls from sex abuse survivors, city council members, and Murray's own appointees. Murray even flirted with a write-in campaign in June after Heckard put his lawsuit on hold.

On Tuesday, Murray said his resignation was over "the ability of our [c]ity government to conduct the public’s business," but Murray was likely out of political options. Shortly before he announced the resignation, mayoral candidate Jenny Durkan asked Murray to resign.

Durkan - the top vote-getter in the August mayoral primary - in June accepted an endorsement from Murray. The pair appeared at a joint press conference at the Paramount Theater, with Murray lending the last bit of political capital he had to Durkan's campaign.

"As a parent, former public official and openly gay woman these allegations are beyond sad and tragic; no official is above the law," Durkan said.

Watch: Seattle Mayor Ed Murray Resigns After 5th Child Sex Abuse Allegation

Before her, former candidates Mike McGinn, Jessyn Farrell, and Nikkita Oliver all asked Murray to step down. So did Council candidate Jon Grant and council members Kshama Sawant and Lorena Gonzalez.

Cary Moon, who is competing against Durkan to become mayor, held a press conference in the courtyard outside the Norton Building in downtown Seattle to address the latest accusation. Visibly upset, she called Murray's responses to the sex abuse allegations "harmful." News of Murray's resignation broke in the middle of the press conference.

"I applaud him for stepping up to do the right thing," she told Patch in response to Murray's resignation.

Murray beat McGinn in the 2013 election after spending 18 years in the state Legislature - from 1995 to 2007 as a state Representative, and from 2007 to 2013 as a state Senator. Murray has been seen as more pro-business than McGinn, but he was elected in a year when Kshama Sawant became the first openly socialist elected official in the U.S. Murray was also Seattle's first openly gay mayor.

As soon as he took office, Murray had to navigate passing the city's $15 minimum wage law. At the same time, the city police department was trying to comply with a federal consent decree over improper policing practices. Murray oversaw the hiring of Chief Kathleen O'Toole in 2014 to remake the police department and come into compliance with the Justice Department. As of last Friday, the city's federal monitor said that the department is still not in compliance.

In his resignation letter, Murray also touted his Housing Affordability and Livability (HALA) agenda. HALA, in part, requires developers to either include affordable units or pay the city to build them. He also highlighted his issuance of proposals to redevelop Key Arena to attract an NHL or NFL team. Murray was supposed to attend a press conference Tuesday morning about the Key Arena redevelopment, but he cancelled after the Seattle Times broke news of the latest sex assault accusation.

Murray leaves office on Wednesday at 5 p.m. City Council President Bruce Harrell will take over as acting mayor and has five days to decide if he wants to stay in the acting role.

"To the people of this special city and to my dedicated staff, I am sorry for this painful situation," he said Tuesday.

This is the first time in 48 years that a Seattle mayor has resigned. James Braman resigned in 1969 to take a job in the Richard Nixon administration.

Here's a recent timeline of the Ed Murray sex abuse scandal:

• April 6 - Delvonn Heckard sues Murray in King County alleging that Murray raped Heckard in Seattle during the late 1980s; Heckard worked as an underage prostitute at the time of the alleged abuse
• April 12 - Murray releases the results of a medical exam to show that descriptions of his anatomy made by Heckard in the lawsuit were inaccurate
• April 14 - Jeff Simpson, who was one of Murray's first accusers before Murray became mayor, responds to Heckard's lawsuit
• April 19 - Previously anonymous, Heckard reveals his identity, but Murray claims they have never met
• April 25 - Murray's private attorney, Malaika Eaton, seeks sanctions against Heckard's attorney, Lincoln Beauregard, for violating standards of professional conduct
• May 2 - A fourth man, Maurice Jones, 44, comes forward as the fourth man to accuse Murray of sex abuse
• May 4 - Murray bows out of a scheduled commencement speech at the Seattle Colleges
• May 4 - A judge fines Beauregard $5,000 for professional misconduct
• May 9 - Murray announces he'll drop out of the 2017 mayoral race just days before the filing deadline
• June 14 - Rumors that Murray will launch a write-in campaign emerge
• June 15 - Heckard suspends his lawsuit, promising to revisit it when Murray leaves office at the end of 2017
• June 29 - Murray says he won't mount a write-in campaign, endorses Durkan instead
• July 16 - A previously sealed record from the state of Oregon reveals that a state investigator in 1984 determined that Murray likely molested his own foster son
• July 17 - Councilwoman M. Lorena Gonzalez calls on Murray to resign, or for the City Council to investigate whether to remove the mayor; then-mayoral candidates Jessyn Farell, Mike McGinn, and Moon call for his resignation
• July 24 - The Seattle LGBTQ Commission asks Murray to resign
• July 27 - Heckard files a claim with the city of Seattle indicating his intent to sue the city; Heckard claims Murray, as a public official, defamed him in public
• July 31 - Councilwoman Kshama Sawant asks Murray to resign
• Sept. 12 - Murray's cousin comes forward with sex abuse allegations, prompting Murray to resign

Image via Neal McNamara/Patch.com