Lafferty, who never married, was dogged by several scandals during his political career. During his first term in Congress, he solicited the acquaintance of two young women to whom he had not been formerly introduced, including the daughter of a federal official, in violation of social norms of the times. He was forced to apologize for his actions. Several years later, in 1919, Lafferty was indicted by a Multnomah County grand jury for contributing to the delinquency of a 14-year-old girl. Lafferty, who was in New York City at the time of the indictment, did not return to Oregon to face the misdemeanor charge. He opened a law practice in New York, where he lived for the next 14 years.