Former Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore is suing one of the women who levied one of the sexual misconduct allegations against him that, in part, leveled his candidacy.
Attorneys for Moore filed claims of defamation and slander against Leigh Corfman, one of several women who accused him of sexual misconduct. Corfman claimed he molested her when she was 14.
Moore’s lawsuit is in response to a claim filed in January by Corfman, who sued Moore and his campaign for defaming her when she came forward with her accusations.
Corfman told The Washington Post in November 2017, a month before the December special election, that Moore took her to his home in 1979. She said Moore, who at the time was a 32-year-old district attorney, approached her in his underwear and undressed her, guiding her hand to touch his genitals.
Being 14, Corfman was younger than the age of consent in Alabama.
Several other women also came forward, alleging a 30-year-old Moore pursued them when they were in their late teens and early 20s.
Another woman, Beverly Young Nelson, said Moore assaulted her in his car outside of a restaurant where she was working in Gadsden, Alabama.
Moore has blamed his historic loss on several things — the women’s accusations, which he denies; the “liberal media” and establishment politicians in Washington.
“The statements made by Leigh Corfman to The Washington Post were fabricated and malicious and made with the sole intent of defaming Mr. Moore so as to damage his reputation in the community, state, and nation and prevented his election to the U.S. Senate,” according to court filings.
Moore’s December loss sent a Democrat from Alabama, Sen. Doug Jones, to the U.S. Senate for the first time in two decades.
Moore served as Alabama chief justice until April 2017, when he resigned from the office after being effectively removed in 2016 for judicial ethics violations.
A Montgomery Circuit Court judge recently refused to dismiss Corfman’s lawsuit and earlier this week declined to move legal proceeding from Montgomery to Etowah County, where both Moore and Corfman live.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
Chip Brownlee, senior in journalism and political science, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
