-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The mayor of Portland , Oregon , publicly apologized Tuesday for lying about a sexual relationship he had with an 18-year-old male in 2005 , and for asking the teen to lie about it . `` This was a serious error that happened about four years ago , '' Portland Mayor Sam Adams tells reporters . `` I want to apologize to the people of Portland for my dishonesty and for embarrassing them , '' Mayor Sam Adams , a Democrat , said at an afternoon news conference . But the mayor -- who is openly gay and whose election last year possibly made Portland the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor -- said he has no plans to resign . `` This was a serious error that happened about four years ago , '' Adams said . `` My job now is to come clean -- I mucked it up -- and to press forward . '' Adams returned to Portland from Washington , where he had planned to attend the inauguration of President Barack Obama , to hold the news conference . A day earlier , Adams issued a statement saying : `` In the past , I have characterized my relationship with Beau Breedlove as purely nonsexual . That is not true . Beau Breedlove and I had a sexual relationship for a few months in the summer of 2005 after he turned 18 years of age . '' Adams issued the statement Monday after a local newspaper , the Willamette Week , published a story about the relationship between Adams , who was a city commissioner in 2005 , and Breedlove , then a legislative intern . During the mayoral campaign , questions had emerged about whether Adams and Breedlove had a sexual relationship . Adams said he had lied about the relationship during the campaign , and had asked Breedlove to lie , because of `` untrue rumors being circulated saying that I had broken the law regarding sex relations with a minor . '' `` The allegation coming at me was ` sex with a minor , ' '' Adams said . `` But still , I should have told the truth at the time and taken the consequences . '' The relationship was consensual and `` although inappropriate , was legal , '' Adams said . `` I 'm the one that should be held accountable . I 'm the older adult , '' he said . Adams was 42 and Breedlove was 17 when the two met , according to the Willamette newspaper . Adams emphasized that what he called a `` romantic '' relationship with Breedlove did not begin until after Breedlove was 18 . Adams said the two had `` maybe three or four dates '' over two or three months in 2005 before the relationship ended . The mayor apologized to Breedlove for asking him to lie , and to Portland 's gay community `` for embarrassing them . '' It was not clear whether Breedlove was in attendance at Tuesday 's news conference . Adams said that `` this is fundamentally an issue of a public official lying . '' `` I do n't think this fundamentally is an issue about sexual orientation , '' he said . `` Other people can debate that but , for me , it 's about an error in judgment and then seeking to make amends for that and being very up-front about the mistake and then carrying on , '' he said . Asked by a reporter if he lied to get elected , Adams said : `` I definitely lied to avoid what I thought was another lie that I could n't overcome . So , in a way , yes . '' Asked if he had thought he could get away with lying , Adams responded : `` I think that 's going to be up to my colleagues and the people of Portland . ''