FBI looks into Washington mayor scandal

SPOKANE, Wash., May 11 (UPI) -- The FBI reportedly is investigating allegations the mayor of Spokane, Wash., offered city jobs to young men solicited in a gay chat room.

The news came one day after Mayor Jim West, 54, announced he was taking leave to prepare a defense against the allegations, made last week by the Spokane Spokesman-Review.

"The FBI has opened what's called a 'preliminary inquiry' to determine whether a full-blown investigation should occur," said Thomas Rice, chief criminal prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office.

Wednesday, agents were to interview two young men who claim they were offered city hall jobs and a position on the Human Rights Commission after online chats with a man who turned out to be West.

West has denied the newspaper's allegations he sexually abused two boys in the 1970s, but admitted to using his city-owned computer to enter online chat rooms.