In a stunning development, allegations have surfaced that Jim West, the Republican mayor of Spokane, Wash., has used positions of public trust—as a sheriff’s deputy, Boy Scout leader, and politician—to develop sexual relationships with boys and young men, according to an investigative report from the Spokesman-Review.
West is an opponent of gay rights.
One man, Robert J. Galliher, claims in a court deposition that West molested him in the mid-1970s when he was a boy and West was a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy and Boy Scout leader.
On one recent occasion, West offered a man he believed to be an 18-year-old—whom he met online at Gay.com—gifts, favors and a City Hall internship, internet dialogues retained by the newspaper revealed.
Another man—Brad Crelia of Seattle—said he was a 15-year-old when West, then Senate minority leader, asked him out.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is calling on West to resign. ‘Three victims of Mayor Jim West’s predatory and appalling behavior have already come forward and, based on what we know about pedophiles, it’s almost certain there are many more. Some media reports quote people as saying this is a ‘tragic’ situation for West and imply that his conduct showed he was ‘uncomfortable with his identity.’ Nonsense. Pedophilic behavior is always wrong and has nothing do with sexual orientation. This man—whether he’s straight, bisexual, or gay—deserves nothing but scorn. He needs to resign immediately,’ said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.