Developer Terry Bean Sees Charges Dropped After 7-Year Journey

PORTLAND, OR — In November 2014, well-known Portland developer and major Democratic fundraiser Terry Bean was indicted on sex abuse charges. On Tuesday, the criminal case came to an end with the final charge, a computer charge, dismissed.

It is a milestone for Bean, a civil rights activist who co-founded Human Rights Campaign. Bean was a Portland developer who used his fortune for civil rights work such as HRC as well as giving generously to Democrats and Democratic causes.

Bean had even flown on Air Force One with President Obama and met the former president on the tarmac on his Portland visits.

The development follows the judge's dismissal of sex charges against Bean after the person who identified as the victim said they would not testify.

The judge wrote that that person "communicated to me unequivocally that he has relocated out of state, and he no longer wishes to participate in this pending prosecution."

The news of the dismissal – as with every other substantial part of the story – was first reported by Willamette Week's Nigel Jaquiss. The original indictment followed a story by Jaquiss about Bean's breakup with this then-boyfriend Kiah Lawson.

Lawson had alleged that Bean had recorded him and other men having sex in Bean's home.

Bean sill faces two possible federal civil rights lawsuits – one filed by the man who decided to again not testify and a second by another who was alleged sexual abuse by Bean.

Lawyers in those cases have not yet said they will continue pursuing the cases.

The article led to charges that Bean and Lawson sexually abused a 15-year-old boy. The charges were eventually dismissed when the teen fled the state and, when found, refused to testify.

It later came out that Bean had agreed to pay the teen $220,000 not to testify. The teen later filed a complaint with the Oregon State Bar saying his lawyer stole most of that money.

In 2019, the district attorney refiled the indictment after the teen said he would testify.

Lawson was convicted by an 11-1 jury, leading a state appeals court to toss the case because in the interim, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that non-unanimous convictions are unconstitutional.

As Bean waited for his trial, he continued fighting the indictment.

Last year, Bean's team charged that a Portland Police detective had destroyed scores of text messages that should have been turned over to the defense.

His trial was finally scheduled for this month but, just before jury selection was to begin, the teen – now an adult – reached out to the judge and said he was done.