Roy Moore has filed a counterclaim against Leigh Corfman, who has accused the former U.S. Senate candidate of making unwanted sexual advances and filed a defamation lawsuit against Moore in January.

Moore, in filings late Monday by his new attorney, also asked the Montgomery County court to stop all proceedings in the case pending a ruling by the Alabama Civil Court of Appeals made by Moore on a lower court's ruling.

Finally, Moore responded to Corfman's lawsuit by "strongly" denying "all accusations of sexual abuse and sexual misconduct." Those denials are consistent with Moore's previous denials since the allegations were first published by The Washington Post on Nov. 9, 2017.

The counterclaim described Corfman's lawsuit as "frivolous and groundless."

"This is and has been a political attempt to smear the good name and reputation of Judge Roy Moore, and we will not let this injustice continue," said Moore's new attorney, Melissa Isaak, in a statement Tuesday morning. "(Monday night), we filed claims for slander and defamation against Leigh Corfman, and claimed damages for attorney fees under the Alabama Litigation Accountability Act. We also continue to argue that this case should be tried in Etowah County, and wonder why Leigh Corfman has chosen to file this case in Montgomery and not Etowah County, where both she and Judge Moore reside and where her character and reputation are well known."

The issue of moving the case from Montgomery County to Etowah County is the basis for Moore's appeal to the higher court. The presiding judge in the case, Roman Ashley Shaul, denied Moore's motion to relocate the case to Etowah County.

Moore and Corfman are scheduled to be in court on Thursday in Montgomery for the first hearing of the lawsuit. If Shaul grants Moore's request to stay all proceedings until the appeals court renders its decision, that hearing would be postponed.

In the counterclaim, Moore alleges, "The statements made by Leigh Corfman were slanderous, libelous and were of such magnitude as to amount to defamation of Mr. Moore. No evidence other than the self-serving testimony of Leigh Corfman exists to support her contention that she was sexually abused or pursued romantically by Mr. Moore when she was fourteen years of age."

Neil Roman, an attorney for Corfman, issued a statement Tuesday to AL.com.

"Our client has been repeatedly called a liar--including in this court filing by Roy Moore," the statement said. "As we have said all along, Ms. Corfman's focus is on holding those who say that she lied accountable, and we look forward to the discovery process in our case against Mr. Moore and his campaign committee and defending our client in court."

In The Washington Post story in November, Corfman stated that in the winter of 1979, Moore took her to his rural Etowah County home, undressed her and touched her over her underwear and guided her hand to touch his penis. Corfman was 14 years old at the time and Moore was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney.

The accusations upended the ongoing U.S. Senate campaign one month before the election and Democrat Doug Jones narrowly defeated Moore to win the seat vacated early in 2017 by Jeff Sessions, who became U.S. attorney general.

"Mr. Moore avers that but for Leigh Corfman making false and malicious statements to members of national and local media, his reputation would not have suffered irrevocable damage that affected the outcome of the Senate election in December 2017," the counterclaim said.

In Moore's counterclaim, Corfman is described as "a deeply troubled child whose behavior was so intolerable and uncontrollable, that her mother felt it necessary to transfer custody of her to her father when she was fourteen years of age."

Moore's counterclaim said that there is no evidence that the encounter with Corfman took place beyond her statements.

"The statements made by Leigh Corfman accused Roy Moore, in his capacity as Deputy District Attorney, of sexually abusing her when she was 14 years of age," the counterclaim said. "These statements were made despite no physical evidence of abuse, no documentary evidence of abuse, no corroborating police reports indicating that Leigh Corfman was abused, no corroborating court documents indicating Leigh Corfman was abused, and, in fact, no corroborating proof other than her allegation that she 'vaguely' told a friend."

The counterclaim also said that prior to The Post story, Corfman never had any direct or indirect contact as a child or an adult with Moore.

Corfman's made statements to The Post "that she knew to be false," the counterclaim said.

Updated today, April 10, 2018, at 11:23 a.m. with new information throughout.

Updated today, April 10, 2018, at 11:51 a.m. with statement from Corfman's attorney.

Roy Moore's response and counterclaim to Leigh Corfman lawsuit by pgattis7719 on Scribd