XPost: hawaii.education, monterey.general, sbay.general   
   XPost: alt.politics.obama   
   From: amused@glaad.org   
      
   Records previously thought destroyed provide the clearest   
   picture yet of the investigation of claims Ed Murray sexually   
   abused his foster son.   
      
   An Oregon child-welfare investigator concluded that Ed Murray   
   sexually abused his foster son in the early 1980s, leading state   
   officials to assert that “under no circumstances should Mr.   
   Murray be certified” as a foster parent in the future, according   
   to public records obtained by The Seattle Times.   
      
   The investigation by Oregon Child Protective Services (CPS) of   
   Jeff Simpson’s allegations determined them to be valid — meaning   
   the agency believed Murray sexually abused Simpson, the records   
   show.   
      
   “In the professional judgement 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,” CPS caseworker Judy   
   Butler wrote in the May 1984 assessment.   
      
   Murray, elected Seattle’s mayor in 2013, last week repeated in   
   an interview with The Seattle Times that he never abused   
   Simpson, and he underscored that prosecutors had decided decades   
   ago not to charge him.   
      
   Still, the newly disclosed records reveal that a Multnomah   
   County prosecutor withdrew a criminal case against Murray   
   because of Simpson’s troubled personality, not because she   
   thought he was lying.   
      
   “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.   
      
   “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.”   
      
   Unlike a criminal case, CPS child-abuse investigations determine   
   whether “reasonable cause” exists — a lower standard of proof   
   than for criminal cases, but still meaning the abuse likely   
   occurred. In Oregon, about 10 percent of child-abuse reports   
   annually have in recent years been deemed to be founded.   
      
   The newly obtained records, previously thought destroyed,   
   provide the clearest picture yet of the investigation of Murray,   
   then a paralegal who had worked as a counselor to Simpson and   
   other troubled children.   
      
   The documents, released to The Seattle Times this month by   
   Oregon’s Department of Human Services, also contradict public   
   statements in recent months by Murray and his lawyer contending   
   investigators had debunked Simpson’s allegations at the time as   
   false.   
      
   A letter to The Times sent Saturday night by Murray’s Portland   
   lawyer, Katherine Heekin, stressed: “Oregon’s Child Protective   
   Services is supposed to err on the side of believing a child’s   
   accusations. The agency is not responsible for judging sex abuse   
   cases. It merely investigates allegations of sex abuse. In   
   contrast, law enforcement is responsible for determining whether   
   or not a crime may have happened. Here, there was no indictment,   
   no charges filed, no conviction, and no crime.”   
      
   Murray said last week he had never been told of the CPS finding   
   and would have appealed had he known. The Seattle Times provided   
   him copies of the newly released investigative records Tuesday.   
      
   In an interview Thursday, Murray and Heekin questioned why   
   Oregon officials kept the records without informing Murray. They   
   also disputed the importance of the documents.   
      
   “Other than the salacious nature of it, I don’t see what the   
   story is,” said Murray. “The system vindicated me. They withdrew   
   the case.”   
      
   Murray said his previous comments that Simpson’s allegations had   
   been discredited were based on his lawyer’s impressions about   
   the decision to drop the case. He said he learned from the   
   documents that the case was withdrawn before a grand jury could   
   vote whether to indict him.   
      
   “I feel even more strongly that my statement was correct because   
   (the criminal case) was withdrawn,” Murray added. “ … That is   
   unusual because we all know people get indicted and they get   
   indicted pretty easily. As I said, one of the attorneys told me   
   you can get a ham sandwich indicted in the grand jury.”   
      
   The withdrawn case included another foster parent Simpson had   
   accused of abuse.   
      
   Murray pointed to statements his attorneys collected and   
   submitted to investigators from people who had known him or   
   Simpson. They included other foster parents who described the   
   youth as sometimes violent and impossibly difficult to care for.   
      
   Oregon officials previously said records of the investigation   
   had been purged, but located them in April under a newer   
   computer-tracking system. In releasing the typically private   
   information to The Times, that state cited, in part, a provision   
   of public-records law that allows disclosure “to protect   
   children from abuse and neglect.”   
      
   The finding by CPS supporting Simpson — who had been abandoned   
   as an infant and later lived under Murray’s care for nearly a   
   year and a half as a teenager — prompted Oregon child-welfare   
   officials to decide that Murray should never again be a foster   
   parent, a June 1984 report shows.   
      
   The abuse finding — the result of a required administrative   
   investigation — remains in effect and could still prevent him   
   from being a foster parent in Oregon, officials said.   
      
   “Thank you, Jesus”   
      
   Murray, 62, a longtime Democratic state lawmaker and gay civil-   
   rights leader, has attacked the credibility of Simpson and other   
   men who say he sexual abused them decades ago. Murray has   
   suggested the claims are politically motivated.   
      
   The scandal led Murray to drop his re-election bid. The mayor   
   has said he’ll serve out his term, which ends this year.   
      
   Simpson, 49, who abandoned an effort to sue Murray in 2008 due   
   to statute-of-limitations issues, was happy when reporters told   
   him last week that the CPS report backed his claims.   
      
   “Wow, wow. Thank you, Jesus,” he said.   
      
   Simpson added that he and his attorney had tried to find such   
   documents, but were told none existed.   
      
   The Times first published details about Simpson’s claims in   
   April when a Kent man, Delvonn Heckard, made similar accusations   
   against Murray in a sexual-abuse lawsuit. Heckard withdrew his   
   lawsuit in June, saying he intends to refile after Murray leaves   
   office.   
      
   Shortly after Heckard sued, Murray’s attorney Robert Sulkin   
   attacked the lawsuit and Simpson’s allegations, saying Simpson’s   
   claims had been “completely debunked” and “found to be false by   
   law enforcement.”   
      
   Janet Hoffman, the Portland attorney who defended Murray in   
   1984, said in an interview in May that Portland prosecutors were   
   “very hard-nosed” and must have been “thoroughly convinced” the   
   allegations were “totally false.”   
      
   The records released this month show otherwise. Along with the   
   prosecutor’s letter and the CPS assessment, a state foster-care   
   specialist wrote in a summary:   
      
      
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