Roy Moore accuser files suit alleging defamation

Brian Lyman | Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser

Show Caption Hide Caption Doug Jones talks about Roy Moore's effect on Jones' election Senator Elect Doug Jones talks about Roy Moore's effect in Jones' win, as he holds a day after the election press conference in Birmingham, Ala. on Wednesday December 13, 2017. (Mickey Welsh / Montgomery Advertiser)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama woman who said former Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore molested her when she was 14 filed suit Thursday, demanding Moore and his campaign retract and apologize for statements that she says are defamatory.

In the lawsuit filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Leigh Corfman of Gadsden, said she wants a judge to declare that Moore and his surrogates defamed her by accusing her of lying. She is asking that Moore pay court costs but is not seeking additional compensation.

“By this lawsuit, I seek to do what I could not do as a 14-year-old — hold Mr. Moore and those who enable him accountable,” Corfman said in a statement.

The Moore campaign said in a statement that "we look forward to transparently discussing these matters in a court of law."

Corfman’s allegations were first detailed in a Nov. 9 Washington Post story along with those of three women who said Moore pursued relationships with them when they were teenagers and he was in his early 30s. Other women later came forward to accuse Moore of abuse, harassment or misconduct.

The accusations drew world attention to the Dec. 12 Alabama Senate election. Moore lost the election to Democratic nominee Doug Jones, who was sworn into office Wednesday.

Corfman said in early 1979, Moore — then an assistant district attorney in Etowah County — took her to his home, undressed her and passed her hand over the front of his underwear. The legal age of consent in Alabama, then and now, is 16.

Other accusers described a host of behaviors by Moore, ranging from unwanted attention to groping. Beverly Nelson said Moore assaulted her in a car when she was 16 years old.

Moore denied any wrongdoing and said he never met Corfman. He initially said he knew two of the other accusers named in the Post story, though later issued blanket denials of ever knowing any of them. Corfman’s lawsuit lists several denials made by Moore, including statements suggesting she and other accusers were paid — which both Corfman and the Post deny — or were politically motivated.

“All these statements by Mr. Moore are defamatory,” the lawsuit said. “Mr. Moore sexually abused Ms. Corfman in 1979, when she was 14 years old and he was in his early 30s, and Mr. Moore’s denials of these facts are false and his characterizations of Ms. Corfman and her motivations are untrue.”

The lawsuit also cites comments from Moore campaign surrogates,including campaign chairman Bill Armistead and campaign manager Rich Hobson, now running for Congress, that suggested Corfman was lying, including a comment from Moore spokeswoman Janet Porter that Corfman’s appearance on the Today show was “an Academy Award performance.”

Corfman’s lawsuit says the attacks forced her to take a leave of absence from her job and led to fabricated accusations against her from the public.