Seattle Mayor Ed Murray resigns over child sex-abuse allegations

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray (D) announced his resignation Tuesday, after a facing a fifth allegation of child sex abuse. "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," Murray said in a statement.

Earlier Tuesday, Murray's cousin, Joseph Dyer, became the fifth man since April to publicly accuse Murray of molesting him as a child. Murray, who was elected in 2013, has vehemently denied the allegations and attributed them to "bad blood between two estranged wings of the family," The Seattle Times reported.

His resignation will become effective Wednesday at 5 p.m., and city council member Bruce Harrell will step up in the interim.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up