A woman who sued her university in 2001 over sexual abuse she allegedly suffered as a 15-year-old said Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Doug Jones questioned the timing and motivation of her accusations while defending employees of the University of Alabama at Birmingham in a $40 million lawsuit.

Brittany Benefield said she has been thinking about the case a lot in recent days as allegations surfaced that Jones' opponent, Roy Moore, engaged in inappropriate relationships with teen girls during his early 30s. Jones has said he finds Moore's accusers credible.

"I find it to be the height of hypocrisy that he sets his campaign to be on the moral high ground against Roy Moore," said Benefield.

In public statements about the case, in his role defending university officials, Jones cast doubt on her claim that the university officials were responsible.

"The charges against UAB administrators and coaches are entirely without merit and represent nothing more than a cynical attempt to extort money by slandering this institution and its employees," Jones said at the time.

John Whitaker, an attorney who represented Benefield at the time, said Jones acted professionally in his defense of UAB and did not mistreat the victim. Attorneys are required to vigorously defend their clients, and can be disciplined for failing to do so.

"Never, ever, do I think that Doug Jones did anything inappropriate," Whitaker said.

Benefield said she can't discuss the details of confidential court proceedings, but has very bad memories of the mediation process.

"He was not a victim's advocate," Benefield said. "He was all for blaming the victim, honestly."

Trial in the media

It was an ugly episode for the school and its fledgling football program, which was implicated in the scandal. Benefield, originally identified in court documents as Jane Doe, had been hailed as the youngest student ever admitted to an Alabama university. She began attending the university soon after she turned 15.

UAB in 2001 hired Jones to defend a football coach and the university police chief against allegations they didn't protect Benefield from older athletes who sexually exploited her and exposed her to drugs and alcohol. One campus officer was also alleged to have had sex with the student.

"[Jones] has always fought for justice for victims and to make sure that everyone gets a fair shake in court," said campaign spokesman Sebastian Kitchen in a statement. "After litigation in this matter was filed, Doug represented the former football coach and former chief of police, who were ultimately dismissed from the case. Doug was not the lead lawyer in the case for the University."

Benefield said she has been watching allegations unfold against Roy Moore and other high-profile men and is glad to see discussions happening about sexual assault. She describes herself as "fairly liberal" and said she's registered as a Democrat.

Benefield said at the time of the lawsuit, the publicity around the case was almost as bad as the abuse itself. Lawyers, including Jones, often spoke to the press.

According to The Birmingham Post-Herald, Jones mentioned her hometown in one of his first media appearances. Her attorneys originally filed the case as Jane Doe. The case was later refiled under her legal name.

"Although there was a question regarding whether or not the rule of law would allow for anonymous lawsuits, [Jones] treated the victim and her family with the utmost respect," Kitchen said.

The parties settled the case in 2003, almost three years after the sexual abuse was said to have begun. During litigation, UAB attorneys said the school never put into writing promises that they would protect Benefield.

The case is sealed and the university responses are not publicly available. In the press at the time, attorneys for the university did not deny the sex occurred, but denied the university officials had violated an agreement to protect Benefield.

Administrators from UAB claimed attorneys representing the student and her family shopped the story around to media outlets, "in hopes of causing maximum damage to the athletic department," according to The Birmingham News.

Why now?

When Benefield's lawsuit dropped on the first day of football season, Jones's voice was among a chorus questioning its timing, according to news reports from 2001. Jones argued the plaintiff hadn't gotten proper permission to file the case anonymously and instead rushed it into court.

"I guess they were a little too anxious to get it filed on the first day of football season," Jones said in The Birmingham Post-Herald in 2001.

Supporters of Moore have repeatedly questioned why his accusers would speak out now, in some cases four decades later. Moore has been accused of inappropriate conduct by half a dozen women who lived in Gadsden in the late 1970s and early 80s. Jones has remained mostly quiet on the subject, although he has said he finds the allegations more credible than the denials.

"Like I have said, like so many Republicans have said, like so many people across this country have said, it seems to me that the statements made by the women up in Etowah County have much more credibility than the denials whether it's by Roy Moore himself or his handlers," Jones said on Wednesday.

Benefield also said she has no reason to doubt the women who have come forward regarding Moore.

A bright start followed by darkness

Benefield's admission to UAB began with fanfare and high hopes. School officials allegedly promised her parents they would protect the unusually young freshman, although news reports at the time say Jones argued there was no paper trail of the alleged agreements.

When she moved into a co-ed dorm filled with student athletes in her second semester, her life soon spiraled out of control. The lawsuit claimed that Benefield was used as a "play thing" by more than 20 student athletes.

Benefield's GPA slipped from 3.5 her first semester to 1.9 in her third, when her parents withdrew her from school and placed her in a rehabilitation facility. Benefield's lawsuit said she was 15 when she began drinking and having sex with older UAB students - younger than the legal age of consent in Alabama.

The conduct occurring in her dorm room was widely known by coaches and campus police, according to the lawsuit, which included emails about the situation between school officials. Her parents said they were not told about any problems until the end of Benefield's third semester. In newspaper articles, the mother said she attempted to file criminal charges, but was turned away by campus police.

Student athletes alleged to have been involved in the sexual misconduct were not disciplined.

Jones did not defend any of the people accused of sexual misconduct with Benefield. His clients were sued for failing to adequately protect the 15-year-old student.

Always there

Benefield said in a recent interview that she's limited in what she can say about the case. But Benefield recalled moments she felt defense attorneys put the blame for her assault squarely on her parents, and sometimes on her.

Some of the things Jones said during the process "really made my jaw hit the floor," Benefield said.

"I just think Doug Jones is full of ... something," Benefield said. "He was cold, uncaring, unfeeling and calculated throughout the case."

After the resolution of the civil case, Benefield did not pursue criminal charges. If she had, she says now, she might have had to endure dozens of trials against the alleged perpetrators, a prospect she couldn't face after one-and-a-half years of civil litigation.

Ultimately, she said the settlement forced UAB to change some procedures and provide more protection for students. Benefield has made her peace with what happened, for the most part.

"Every day of my life for three years had been about the trauma, and I was tired of it," Benefield said. "I wanted to move on, but then you realize that never happens. It's always, always, always there."