The man accusing Seattle Mayor Ed Murray of sexual abuse in the 1980s dropped his lawsuit Wednesday.
Delvonn Heckard filed the civil lawsuit against the mayor on April 6. He alleged Murray paid him for sex on multiple occasions in the 1980s when he was a teenager.
Heckard was the third person to come forward in recent years and accuse the mayor of sexual misconduct, but the only person to seek legal action.
His attorney, Lincoln Beauregard, said that Deckard wanted to finish his counseling and recovery program. Beauregard also wrote that the mayor and his legal team "have successfully tainted the jury pool with false information about the accusers," according to court documents.
That is why Heckard will wait to pursue the case when Murray is out of office.
"He's used his position of power to sit back and create a false narrative," said Beauregard. "To sit back and call gay men, and a super liberal lawyer, that we're out to get him. He's used his position of power as a megaphone and abused in that way, and a normal citizen or at least a mayor who steps out of office isn't going to have those resources."
Amid the allegations, Murray announced in May that he would not seek re-election.
More:
http://www.king5.com/news/local/sexual-abuse-lawsuit-against-seattle-mayor-murray-dropped/448974308
