The Spokesman-Review reported allegations yesterday that Spokane Mayor Jim West:

• Molested Robert J. Galliher, now 36,and Michael G. Grant Jr., now 31,when both were children and West was a Spokane County sheriff's deputy and Boy Scout leader. Galliher is suing the county, alleging he was also molested by a deputy who was a friend of West's. Galliher and Grant are drug addicts and convicted felons.

West emphatically denied the allegations yesterday.

• Used an online chat room, gay.com, to entice someone he thought was an 18-year-old high-school student by offering him an internship at City Hall. The "student" actually was a computer investigator hired by the newspaper.

West acknowledged visiting the gay Web site and that he "had relationships with adult men" but said he did not view the internship as an enticement.