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May 24, 2005
New Allegations Surface Against Spokane Mayor Accused of Sex Scandal
By Nicholas K. Geranios
Associated Press Writer
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - New allegations of misconduct surfaced Tuesday
against Mayor James West, who has rejected demands for his resignation
amid allegations he offered city jobs to men he met in gay online chat
rooms.
According to The Spokesman-Review, state Sen. Pam Roach said that when
West served in the Legislature, he made an inappropriate sexual comment
to her about her teenage son. The newspaper also said a man claimed that
he was inappropriately touched during a pat-down search when West was a
sheriff's deputy in the 1970s.
Through his attorney, Bill Etter, West denied the published reports.
"Mr. West denies each and every one of these allegations," Etter said.
The new allegations were part of a series of articles the newspaper has
published about West, a conservative Republican and longtime opponent of
gay rights. The Spokesman-Review has also reported allegations that West
molested two boys in the 1970s when he was a Boy Scout leader, and that
he offered gifts, favors and jobs at City Hall to young men he met
online.
The mayor has denied those allegations but acknowledged having relations
with adult men.
The Justice Department is investigating whether West used his political
office and city resources improperly. The city also is investigating.
Roach told the newspaper that West made the comment in the Senate
chamber around 1990, when her then-18-year-old son was working as a tour
guide in the state Capitol and West was a state senator.
"West told me, 'I want to do to your son what no mother would want to
know,'" Roach said the former senator told her.
Roach said she told fellow Republican Sen. Ann Anderson about the
encounter at the time, but Anderson, a friend of West, told the
newspaper she recalled that West told Roach: "Pam, you have a
nice-looking young son."
On Monday, West rejected demands by local business leaders that he
resign for the good of the city. However, he apologized to residents,
apparently for trolling a gay Web site. He denied using city-owned
equipment for visiting that site.
West said he intends to serve the remaining 2 1/2 years of his term in
this city of 200,000 people.
AP-ES-05-24-05 1508EDT
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