Mayor's External Affairs Director Pedro Gomez — resigned January 2025 after rape allegation referred to King County Prosecutor

A senior official in Mayor Harrell’s office allegedly raped a woman after a business meeting the Mayor helped arrange; the official was placed on paid administrative leave for approximately 3.5 months and resigned the day the case was referred to the King County Prosecuting Attorney.

What happened

Pedro Gomez served as Director of External Affairs in Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office. On June 18, 2024, Gomez allegedly raped Cheryl Delostrinos following a business meeting that Harrell had helped arrange. A police incident report describes Delostrinos waking up at a Lake Union apartment to find Gomez performing a nonconsensual sex act on her.

The Seattle Police Department investigated and referred the case to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Special Assault Unit. The Mayor’s Office reports it was notified of the investigation on September 24, 2024, and placed Gomez on paid administrative leave that day, barring him from contacting city employees or entering municipal offices. Gomez resigned on January 6, 2025 — the same day the SPD referral reached the Prosecuting Attorney.

PubliCola subsequently reported in March 2025 that additional women came forward describing uncomfortable encounters with Gomez, including a coworker who said she had not reported her own alleged assault.

All allegations in this case are alleged and have not been adjudicated.

What the primary source says

This case rests on Tier 2 reporting. The underlying police incident report and prosecutor’s review are not public as of this record. The Mayor’s Office stated via spokesperson that Gomez had no prior reported allegations of sexual assault. The reporting appears across multiple outlets including South Seattle Emerald, PubliCola, The Stranger, and The Urbanist.

Status

Gomez resigned January 6, 2025. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Special Assault Unit is reviewing the allegations. No charges have been publicly filed as of this record’s last update.

If charges are declined, dismissed, or result in acquittal, this record will be updated accordingly per the registry’s policy.

Why it’s in the registry

The allegation is reported in multiple independent outlets and resulted in resignation and prosecutorial referral. The case is included primarily for the structural process question: a senior mayoral staffer collected approximately $44,000 in salary during 3.5 months of paid administrative leave pending a criminal referral, with no public timeline or Council notification requirement governing the process.

Reform implication

This case raises the same structural gap as the SPD Diaz misconduct case: no defined timeline or Council notification requirement governs paid administrative leave for senior executive-office employees pending criminal investigation. A standing personnel-oversight framework with mandatory timelines and council notification would address this gap. See [reform: personnel_oversight] and [reform: executive_accountability].