Records claim mayor abused his foster son

SEATTLE — Three decades before Ed Murray was elected Seattle’s mayor, an Oregon childwelfare investigator found that he had sexually abused his foster son, prompting state officials to conclude that “under no circumstances” should Murray serve as a foster parent in the future.

The findings were reported Sunday by the Seattle Times, after Oregon’s Department of Human Services in April unearthed old records — previously thought to have been destroyed — at the newspaper’s request.

“In the professional judgment of this caseworker who has interviewed numerous children of all ages and of all levels of emotional disturbance regarding sexual abuse, Jeff Simpson has been sexually abused by Edward Murray,” Child Protective Services caseworker Judy Butler wrote in the May 1984 assessment.

Jeff Simpson, Murray’s former foster son, is one of four men who publicly accused him this spring of sexually abusing them long ago.

Murray adamantly denies the allegations, but he declined to seek re-election.

In a written response Sunday, Murray said the child-welfare investigator never interviewed him and neither he nor his lawyer were informed of the findings at the time.

He said the allegations were fully investigated and prosecutors never brought charges.

Still, the Times reported, the newly disclosed records reveal that a Multnomah County prosecutor declined to pursue charges because of Simpson’s troubled personality, not because she thought he was lying.

“It was Jeff ’s emotional instability, history of manipulative behaviour and the fact that he has again run away and made himself unavailable that forced my decision,” Deputy District Attorney Mary Tomlinson wrote.

She added: “We could not be sure of meeting the high burden of proof in a criminal case — of proof beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty. However, this in no way means that the District Attorney’s Office has decided Jeff ’s allegations are not true.”

Simpson, now 49, had been abandoned as an infant.

He lived under Murray’s care for nearly a year and a half as a teenager. He said the abuse began in 1980, when he was 13.

At times, Murray paid Simpson $10 or gave him drugs for sex, he said.

Simpson told the Times he was happy the Oregon documents backed his claims.

“Wow, wow. Thank you, Jesus,” he said.