Alabama's Roy Moore accused of molesting 14-year-old girl

An Alabama woman says Roy Moore, the state’s Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, initiated a sexual encounter with her when she was 14 and he was 32, according to a bombshell Washington Post report. Her account is echoed by three other women, who told the paper they were also approached by Moore when they were teenagers.

Moore, the Alabama judge who once erected a stone monument to the Ten Commandments on federal land, routinely cites his Christian beliefs in his judicial reasoning.

“Homosexual conduct is, and has been, considered abhorrent, immoral, detestable, a crime against nature, and a violation of the laws of nature and of nature’s God upon which this nation and our laws are predicated,” Moore wrote in a 2002 opinion. “The state carries the power of the sword, that is, the power to prohibit conduct with physical penalties, such as confinement and even execution. It must use that power to prevent the subversion of children toward this lifestyle, to not encourage a criminal lifestyle.”

READ: GOP leaders are running — not walking — from Roy Moore amid abuse allegations

And he was recently endorsed by Donald Trump as a “really great guy” who will “help make America great again.”

But according to Leigh Corfman, Moore wasn’t always so concerned with following the law or protecting children from predators. Corfman says Moore initiated a sexual encounter with her in 1979, when she was 14 and met the politician — then employed as an assistant district attorney in Etowah County — at a local courthouse.

Moore took her phone number, and a few days later picked her up in his car and took her to his home, where Corfman says he told her she was pretty and kissed her. Another day, she told the Post, he took her shirt and pants off, removed his own clothing, touched her over her bra and underwear, and made her touch him over his underwear.

Two childhood friends confirmed Corfman’s account to the paper, and Corfman’s mother said she learned of the story about 10 years later, when Moore became a federal judge. Three other women, all of whom spoke on the record using their full names, told the paper they too were approached by Moore for dates when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s.

According to the Post, none of the women sought the paper out and were “initially reluctant to speak publicly.” The report, which cites 30 sources who knew Moore during the five-year period when he served as assistant district attorney, paints Moore as a loner who was “was rarely seen socializing outside work,” and spent his free time walking around a local mall alone and coaching a girls softball team for a single season.

In a statement, Moore denied the allegations, saying, “These allegations are completely false and are a desperate political attack by the National Democrat Party and the Washington Post on this campaign.” He further questioned why the stories didn’t come out earlier if they were true.

Moore is running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions, who was appointed Attorney General by President Trump. Moore defeated the GOP incumbent for the seat, Luther Strange, who was appointed by the governor to serve on a temporary basis. The special election is scheduled for Dec. 12.