An Alabama woman alleges Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager, her attorney Gloria Allred said Monday.
Allred said her client, Beverly Young Nelson, would be willing to testify under oath and called on the Senate judiciary committee to hold a hearing and subpoena Moore.
“Mr. Moore attacked me when I was a child,” Nelson said, adding that she was 15 when he began flirting with her and 16 at the time of the alleged assault. “I want Mr. Moore to know that he no longer has any power over me.”
The allegations of force, if true, would be considered sexual abuse in the first degree, but the statute of limitations in effect at the time would have passed.
Nelson detailed her allegations in a statement alongside Allred, an attorney who focuses on discrimination and women’s rights.
The accusations on Monday came after The Washington Post published a bombshell report last week based on interviews with more than 30 people, saying Moore pursued relationships with teenage women while he was in his 30s. One woman said she was 14 years old when Moore initiated sexual contact with her.
Some Republicans have called for Moore to step aside in light of the accusations from the Post story. Moore has denied the allegations in the report.
As reporters gathered to hear the accusations at Allred’s press event, the Moore campaign released a statement denying Moore had “any sexual misconduct with anyone.”
“Gloria Allred is a sensationalist leading a witch hunt, and she is only around to create a spectacle,” Moore campaign chairman Bill Armistead said in a statement. “Allred was the attorney who claims credit for giving us Roe v. Wade which has resulted in the murder of tens of millions of unborn babies. We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again: Judge Moore is an innocent man and has never had any sexual misconduct with anyone. This is a witch hunt against a man who has had an impeccable career for over 30 years and has always been known as a man of high character.”