Ralph Calls 'Immoral' Rumor Slanderous, Damaging Lie

Somerville Mayor S. Lester Ralph said yesterday that a rumor which alleged he had committed "morally repugnant" acts was unfounded and part of a comprehensive effort to ruin his reputation.

Release

"The rumor was a concerted and well orchestrated attempt to slander and emaciate my reputation made throughout Somerville and the greater Boston area," the mayor stated in a press release.

The allegations arose last Thursday when a drunken man presented himself to the Somerville police as the mayor's lover. The man later admitted there was no basis to his charge, and Ralph proved his alibi with a polygraph test.

Ralph added in the press release that he believes there was a massive telephone campaign to spread the rumors and irreparably damage his reputation.

"I now fear that there is nothing I can ever do to reestablish my reputation as a minister, a public servant, an attorney, and most of all as a husband and father of three children," Ralph said.