Terry Bean Withdraws Lawsuit Against Detective, Prosecutor and Lawyer Representing His Alleged Victim

Terry Bean, the Portland real estate investor and longtime top Democratic Party fundraiser, today withdrew a lawsuit he filed earlier this month against three men on the other side of a pending sex abuse case against Bean in Lane County.

On Sept 12, as The Oregonian first reported, Bean filed a $2 million lawsuit against Det. Jeff Myers, Lane County prosecutor Erik Hasselman and Sean Riddell, a lawyer who represents a young man referred to in court records as M.S.G. in civil matters.

The lawsuit alleged the three men colluded to convince M.S.G. to falsely claim that Bean had sexually abused him in Eugene in 2013 when the young man was 15.

Bean and a former boyfriend, Kiah Lawson, faced sex abuse charges in Lane County in 2015 related to M.S.G but when M.S.G refused to testify against them, the charges were dismissed. Earlier this year, Hasselman refiled the charges against both men after M.S.G. discovered that a previous civil attorney, Lori Deveny, had allegedly stolen from him most of a $220,000 civil settlement Bean paid him.

On Sept. 13, the day after Bean filed his new lawsuit, a Lane County jury found Lawson guilty of all charges related to M.S.G. Earlier this week, Lawson was sentenced to two years in prison.

That verdict and sentence may have undercut Bean's claim that Myers, Hasselman and Riddell were conspiring against him.

Bean's attorney, Clifford Davidson, says that's not the case.

"Mr. Bean stands behind everything stated in the complaint," Davidson said in an email. "However, at this time, he has decided to focus on his defense rather than a new lawsuit."

Bean's trial is set for Nov. 13.