Male escort says Republican official paid him $500 for sex

A suburban New Jersey mayor who mounted an unsuccessful bid for Congress has been accused by a male escort of paying him for sex and not following through on promises of gifts.

Medford, N.J., Mayor Chris Myers denies the accusation. The married father of two children, Myers came to national attention during his congressional campaign in 2008. Myers is a combat veteran who served in the Persian Gulf as a U.S. Naval officer.

His accuser, who refuses to identify himself, claims he met Myers on rentboy.com. He says the mayor paid him $500 for a sexual encounter that took place in Orange County, Calif., in October 2010.

The escort has created a website to embarrass Myers for allegedly reneging on promises he made. The website, which crashed due to traffic volume and is currently unavailable, shows photos of a man who appears to be Myers wearing blue underwear and lying on a bed. It also shows other photos of Myers and his personal IDs.

The escort’s story is that Myers identified himself as a mayor from New Jersey and offered his township identification card and gold ID shield as proof during their early-morning encounter at the Fairmount Hotel in Newport Beach.

“This is absolutely crazy. I have no idea who this person is,” Myers told the Burlington County Times on Thursday. “Obviously, we’re dealing with a crackpot and someone who is pissed off at me in some way. There are crazy people.”

Myers, who is serving his third elected term as mayor, told the newspaper that he learned of the photos and the website this month when an e-mail was sent to the township website.

While angry that the accusations have been posted on the Internet, Myers says his attorney has advised him that there is nothing he can do to get the site taken down.

“I will check again, but I’ve been told to ignore it and not investigate,” he says. “I’m thoroughly disgusted at the lengths people will go to.”