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Ed Murray sex abuse accuser files claim against city

SEATTLE — Jeff Simpson, one of the five men who accused former Seattle Mayor Ed Murray of sexual abuse, has filed a claim for more than $1 million in damages against the City of Seattle.

“The City of Seattle chose to publicly side with Mr. Murray and sat back and watched as Mr. Murray and his lawyer and spokesperson defamed, disparaged, and slandered his accusers," said Simpson's attorney, Cheryl Snow.

Snow says that Murray and his legal team,

"… were allowed to use and abuse the full might and power of Murray's position to wage a full-fledged campaign of disparagement and slander…"

Murray resigned on Sept. 13, 2017 after a fifth man – Murray’s cousin – said he was sexually abused by him.

Related >> See a timeline of accusations against Murray

Simpson lived in Perry Center for Children in Portland, where Murray worked.

Simpson told KIRO 7 he met Murray at age 6, and the abuse allegedly began when he was 13.

“When I was 13, it wasn't just molesting, he raped me,” he told KIRO 7 News. “But it's something that for a while was happening daily.”

Simpson said Murray gave him money for sex and he’d use the cash for his drug habit.

Murray accuser Delvonn Heckard also said Murray paid him  for sex, and the City of Seattle agreed last year to settle a lawsuit with Heckard for $150,000. Heckard died earlier this month, though his cause and manner of death have not been released by the King County Medical Examiner. Heckard died at an Auburn motel.

Related >> Delvonn Heckard, man who accused former Seattle mayor of sexual abuse, has died

“I’ve been living with this all my life,” Simpson told KIRO 7 of Murray’s alleged abuse. “I’ve been hiding this …. I’ve been living with this shame, this guilt.”

Last year, Murray said Simpson was part of an anti-gay crusade or seeking money – claims Simpson denies. He said he's just trying to find closure.

Simpson and another Murray accuser, Lloyd Anderson, raised the allegations for decades.

Simpson talked to police in 1984 and tried to bring a lawsuit against Murray in 2007 with Anderson's support, but his lawyer withdrew from the case.

Documents from the 1980s show an Oregon child-welfare investigator concluded Murray abused his Simpson. But the records revealed a Multnomah County prosecutor declined to pursue charges because of Simpson's troubled personality, not because she thought he was lying.

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"It was Jeff's emotional instability, history of manipulative behavior 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."

No criminal charges were filed.

The records show that the State of Oregon closed Murray's home to foster care in April 1984.

In a written response regarding Simpson, Murray said the child-welfare investigator never interviewed him and that neither he nor his attorney was informed of the findings at the time. He said the allegations were fully investigated and prosecutors never brought charges.

 Related >> City of Seattle settles sex abuse lawsuit with Ed Murray accuser

See KIRO 7’s 2017 interview with Simpson below along with other related videos: