San Diego's Mayor Filner will not step down but says he'll seek counseling

At a press conference Friday afternoon, San Diego, California Mayor Bob Filner (D) announced that he will not step down in spite of multiple allegations of sexual harassment against him.

According to San Diego's ABC Channel 10, sources close to the mayor said that he is not resigning but will take "time off."

"The behavior I've engaged in over many years is wrong," Filner said at the press conference, but said that he will not step down. Instead, he said that he will take a short leave of absence in August to attend a two-week counseling program.

"This intensive counseling will just be a first step in a continuing program that will involve ongoing counseling," he said. "I must become a better person. And the hope is that, by becoming a better person, I put myself in a position to be forgiven."

On Thursday, Filner's office refused to accept a subpoena related to charges of sexual harassment.

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith told the San Diego Union-Tribune, "Our investigators tried to serve him directly with a subpoena and they were told to go away by Lee Burdick," a Filner aide.

Goldsmith said the subpoena is related to the case against Filner filed by former staffer Irene McCormack Jackson, who is being represented by high profile attorney Gloria Alred.

Watch the press conference, recorded by NBC San Diego.

View more videos at: https://nbcsandiego.com.