Mayor James West, AKA Cobra82 on Gay.com
James E. West The James E. West scandal is a classic case of things looking much worse than they really are.
The Republican mayor of Spokane, WA, led a closeted gay life until he was outed by local newspaper, the Spokesman Review, which nailed West in a sting operation that raised ethical questions for journalists all over the country.
In 2003, the Spokesman Review was investigating West and his connection to accused child molester David A. Hahn. West and Hahn were friends and fellow police officers who worked together as troop leaders for the Boy Scouts of America. Hahn committed suicide in 1981 after allegations surfaced that he had been molesting Boy Scouts.
After 18 months, Spokesman Review reporter Bill Morlin had found no evidence that West had ever engaged in any sexual activity with any of the boys. But he did find something else: Gay.com user Cobra82.
If what was printed in the newspaper and said on the radio [were] true, I'd abandon me. I'd say, 'How could I be near this person?' But I knew that it wasn't and the majority of my friends did too.
- James E. West to PBS Frontline
The newspaper hired a private investigator to set up a fake Gay.com account that it used to lure West to a meeting at a golf course. In 2005, the paper ran with a story in which former Boy Scout Robert J. Galliher accused West of molesting him, and also revealed what it had learned through its Gay.com sting.
West confirmed that he had met men through the Internet, using usernames Cobra82 and Right-BiGuy on Gay.com, but he denied that he had ever done anything illegal. The FBI launched an investigation into West, who soon became the first mayor in Spokane's history to be voted out of office.
Following its investigation, the FBI cleared West of all charges February 16, 2006, just 5 months before he would die of pancreatic cancer.
