A woman has told the Washington Post that Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore tried to initiate a sexual encounter with her in 1979 when she was 14 and he was 32:
Moore chatted with her and asked for her phone number, she says. Days later, she says, he picked her up around the corner from her house in Gadsden, drove her about 30 minutes to his home in the woods, told her how pretty she was and kissed her. On a second visit, she says, he took off her shirt and pants and removed his clothes. He touched her over her bra and underpants, she says, and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear.
Moore—who is already a controversial figure for a number of reasons involving guns, gay rights, and the Bible—denied the allegations in a statement:
These allegations are completely false and are a desperate political attack by the National Democrat Party and the Washington Post on this campaign.
The Post notes that Moore’s accuser, Leigh Corfman, says she voted for the Republican candidate in the last three presidential elections. The newspaper says it confirmed that Corfman’s mother attended a 1979 court hearing at the time and place that Corfman says she first met Moore. It also reports that two individuals who knew Corfman when she was younger confirmed to the Post that she told them (with varying degrees of specificity) about her relationship with Moore in terms that match her current account.
Moore currently leads Democrat Doug Jones by 6 points in RealClearPolitics’ polling average of their race. The Alabama special election will be held on Dec. 12.
