New Roy Moore accuser expected to allege sexual assault

A woman says Roy Moore sexually assaulted her as a minor in Alabama, and is scheduled to appear at a press conference in New York this afternoon.

The announcement came from attorney Gloria Allred, who has represented women who accuse President Donald Trump and comedian Bill Cosby of sexual misconduct or assault. The individual would be the fifth person to accuse the Republican Senate nominee of inappropriate conduct with them, including one who said Moore, then a 32-year-old prosecutor, had sexual contact with her when she was 14.

Messages left with the Moore campaign Monday morning were not immediately returned. 

In a story published in the Washington Post on Thursday, four women – who spoke on the record and had their stories corroborated by other sources – said Moore took them on dates while working as an assistant district attorney in Gadsden from 1977 to 1982.

One woman, Leigh Corfman, said she was 14 when Moore, then 32, took her to his home in 1979, undressed her and, according to the report, “touched her over her bra and underpants …and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear.” The age of consent in Alabama, both then and now, is 16. Another woman, Gloria Deason, said she was 18 when Moore took her on a date and bought her wine. The legal drinking age was 19 at the time.

Moore has called the Post report "completely false" and denied the incident with Corfman on conservative radio talk show host Sean Hannity's show Friday, though he acknowledged knowing the two other women and said it was "not my customary behavior" to date teenagers."

“I’m not going to dispute anything, but I don’t remember anything like that,” he said. “I don’t remember dating any girl without the permission of her mother.”

The women and their families have stood by the Post’s reporting.

The allegations have led national Republicans to distance themselves from Moore. Three senators who had endorsed the former Alabama chief justice – Mike Lee of Utah; Steve Daines of Montana and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana – withdrew their support for Moore over the weekend. The National Republican Senate Committee canceled a fundraising agreement with him.

Speaking in his home state Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. told reporters that he “believes the women” and called for Moore to step aside. 

Moore has denied the allegations and questioned both the motivations of the accusers and the Washington Post, while threatening investigations and a lawsuit against the newspaper.

“Isn’t it strange after 40 years of constant investigation, that people have waited four weeks before a general election to bring their complaint?” Moore said at an event Saturday. “That’s not a coincidence.”

Moore's campaign tweeted Monday morning that McConnell should step aside, saying "he has failed conservatives."

Paula Cobia, an attorney for Deason, wrote on Facebook this morning that Moore would be "welcome" to take testimony from her client, as long as he agreed to the same.

"Just name the time and place," she wrote. "Because the truth doesn’t hide." 

Some Alabama Republicans have publicly defended Moore, but prominent members of the party, including Gov. Kay Ivey, have been cautious. The Alabama Republican Party has not issued a statement on the allegations, but chairwoman Terry Lathan told Alabama Political Reporter Sunday that it would be a "serious error" for any Republican to endorse a write-in candidate. Some national Republicans have suggested running incumbent U.S. Sen. Luther Strange, who lost the Sept. 26 runoff to Moore, as a write-in. 

Messages seeking comment from House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia and Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, both of whom have endorsed Moore, were not immediately returned Monday.