Nearly Eight Years After First Indicting Him, Authorities Drop Charges Against Terry Bean

Last week, the Lane County District Attorney threw in the towel in its long-running sexual abuse case against Terry Bean, the Portland real estate investor, civil rights pioneer and prodigious Democratic fundraiser. Bean, 73, raised more than $500,000 to help elect President Barack Obama, rode with Obama on Air Force One, and co-founded the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights organization.

But he was also accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy, as was his former boyfriend and co-defendant, Kiah Lawson.

The tortuous eight-year history of the case against Bean includes a fugitive witness, multiple civil lawsuits and bar complaints, and an extensive stretch behind bars for Lawson.

June 3, 2014: WW publishes a cover story detailing Bean and Lawson’s acrimonious breakup (“Terry Bean’s Problem”). Lawson alleged Bean illegally filmed him and other men having sex in Bean’s home; Bean alleged Lawson stole from him and tried to extort him.

November 2014: Bean and Lawson are indicted in Lane County on charges that they sexually abused a 15-year-old boy there in 2013, known in court documents by his initials, M.S.G.

September 2015: The charges against Bean and Lawson are dismissed after M.S.G. flees the state on the eve of trial. Found after an extensive search, M.S.G. refuses to testify.

September 2018: M.S.G files a complaint with the Oregon State Bar, alleging that his attorney, Lori Deveny, stole most of a $220,000 payment Bean agreed to pay him in return for his agreement not to testify. (Deveny would later be indicted on state and federal charges.)

January 2019: Bean and Lawson are reindicted in Lane County on the original charges after M.S.G changes his mind and agrees to cooperate with the prosecution.

September 2019: Lawson stands trial first. He’s convicted and sentenced to two years in prison.

August 2020: The Oregon Court of Appeals reverses Lawson’s conviction because the jury verdict (11-1) was not unanimous. He remained in custody pending retrial.

Jan. 14, 2022: The charges against both Bean and Lawson are dismissed after M.S.G. again declines to cooperate with prosecutors. Lawson and his attorney didn’t return calls for comment. Bean’s attorney, Steven Sherlag, issued a brief statement after the dismissal, saying, “Terry Bean has continually maintained his innocence and is pleased the state has dismissed all criminal charges.”