"I felt like I was the one that was to blame , and it was decades before I was able to let that go,” Leigh Corfman said. | NBC News' TODAY via AP Photo Moore accuser: 'I wonder how many more me's he doesn't know'

Leigh Corfman, the Alabama woman who accused Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore of initiating a sexual encounter with her when she was 14, said Monday that her interaction with Moore robbed her of her senses of trust and self-confidence, placing a weight on her that she said took “decades” to shed.

“Well, it took away a lot of the specialness of, you know, interactions with men. It took some trust away. It allowed me to delve into some things I, you know, wouldn't have otherwise,” Corfman told NBC’s “Today” show in her first televised interview. “It took years for me to regain a sense of confidence in myself. And I felt guilty. You know, I felt like I was the one that was to blame, and it was decades before I was able to let that go.”


Corfman’s allegation was first published earlier this month by The Washington Post in a story that also included the accounts of other women who said Moore had dated them when they were high school-age and he was in his 30s. In the wake of that report, another woman has come forward with an allegation that Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 16 and he was in his 30s.

In her interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, Corfman recalled details from her interaction with Moore, including the color of his underwear, detailing how the former Alabama Supreme Court chief judge had “proceeded to seduce me, I guess you would say” on blankets laid out on the floor of his living room. Corfman said she “pulled back” when Moore tried to get her to touch him over his underwear, at which point she got dressed and he took her home.

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Moore has denied allegations of wrongdoing — although he conceded in an interview that it is possible he dated teenage women when he was much older than them — and has characterized the accusations against him as political attacks. He has said he does not know Corfman.

"I wonder how many more me's he doesn't know," Corfman said when asked by Guthrie about Moore's denial that he knew her.

Some of Moore's defenders have suggested that the women accusing the GOP candidate of sexual misconduct have been paid by Democrats to attack him in hopes of wresting from Republican control the seat once held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Corfman disputed that attack, telling Guthrie that she had "absolutely not" been paid to level the accusation against Moore and adding: "If anything, this has cost me. I've had to take leave from my job. I have no tickets to Tahiti. And my bank account has not flourished."

“My politics — well, I've voted as a Republican for years and years and years,” Corfman said, a response to allegations that her accusations were politically motivated. “But this isn't political for me. This is personal. It’s very close to my heart, and I've lived with this for a long time.”

