Man accusing Seattle mayor of sex abuse reveals his name

The man known for the last week just by his initials, D.H., has revealed himself as the person who filed a lawsuit accusing Seattle Mayor Ed Murray of sexual abuse in the 1980s.

In a court filing, 46-year-old Delvonn Heckard, said that he “feels as though he should not proceed in anonymity” after seeing the names of two other men making similar allegations against the mayor.

At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Murray mispronounced Delvonn Heckard’s name, calling him “Delavonn Hackert.”

“Let me be clear: I have never had sex with Delavonn Hackert or any other minor at any time,” the mayor said.

He said he didn’t recognize the man in the photograph posted to the Seattle Times website.

“He looks like someone maybe I could have met,” Murray said. “Then again, being an activist in the 80s, being out and dating in the 80s, being an elected official in the 90s — we’re talking about a 30-year period.”

Heckard’s attorney, Lincoln Beauregard, said Murray’s lawyers could have known their client’s name earlier, but they never asked.

“My client is angry that the mayor has been parading around the city acting like he doesn’t know who my client is, when the fact of the matter is, his lawyers haven’t asked. And if they’d asked, we’d have told them. So what kind of charade is this that the mayor’s putting on?”

Murray has repeatedly and emphatically denied the allegations in the lawsuit, as well as accusations made by two other men in The Seattle Times: Jeff Simpson and Lloyd Anderson. Murray said he has no knowledge of Anderson’s allegations except what he’s been told by Seattle Times reporters.

He said he knew just one of three men who accused him of sexual abuse – Jeff Simpson.

“I can only speak to one individual, who was a troubled individual when I was assigned to him at a center for emotionally disturbed children. I had that job during college.

“When I left that job, this individual, Mr. Simpson, kept running away to me. I kept returning him to the authorities. At one point, the juvenile system, the court system, suggested that we might try a placement with me. It didn’t work out.

“Mr. Simpson had significant emotional problems that date from a very early age, including, I believe, and again, I can’t remember the records, sexual abuse.

“I had him in a drug treatment program when he was with me. We were monitoring his school behavior. I was unable to help him get control of his drug treatment. I terminated that relationship by returning him to the foster care of the State of Oregon.

“In ’05, ’07, I received letters from Mr. Simpson thanking me for what I did for him, inviting me to his wedding. Later on we received a request for money, which I denied, I was unwilling to give money.

“And then as I’ve said, I’m not going to create a conspiracy here, but every time I’ve had to bring a significant bill forward, the Domestic Partnership Bill in ’08 that the Seattle Times was researching at the time, the Marriage Equality in ’12, and just having sued the president of the United States and running for reelection – this is when these come up. They don’t come up the other 30 years.”

The Seattle Times broke the story of Heckard’s lawsuit two weeks ago, using his initials. In an interview with the newspaper, Heckard alleged he met Murray on Capitol Hill.

“I’m sure he could tell I was on drugs and was homeless and stuff. And he invited me to his home,” Heckard told the Times.

Heckard said Murray paid him for sex dozens of times when Heckard was 15. Sixteen was, and still is, the age of consent in Washington state. His lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and attorney fees.