This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Roy Moore, the former judge who lost a special US Senate election in Alabama in December, is appealing for financial help as he fights a lawsuit brought by a woman who says he molested her when she was 14.

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A number of women have accused Moore of inappropriate behaviour. The suit brought by Leigh Corfman, who accused Moore of touching her when she was a teenager and he was in his 30s, says he and his campaign defamed her. Moore has denied all allegations.

Despite such controversy, Moore was backed by Donald Trump and his former adviser Steve Bannon. He nonetheless lost in a deep-red southern state to the Democratic candidate, Doug Jones, after being abandoned by most senior Republicans.

Profile The Roy Moore file Show Hide Born Roy Stewart Moore, 11 February 1947, in Gadsden, Alabama, the oldest of five children of a construction worker and housewife.

Best of times He had a large slab of Vermont granite inscribed with quotes from the Declaration of Independence, the national anthem and the founding fathers installed in the Alabama supreme court. It was topped off with tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Worst of Times In Vietnam, Moore insisted his troops salute him on the battlefield. He was named “Captain America” and later recalled sleeping on sandbags to avoid a grenade tossed under his cot in retribution. What he says “I think it [America] was great at the time when families were united. Even though we had slavery, they cared for one another.” What others say After refusing to acknowledge same-sex marriage legislation, Human Rights Campaign said: “It is clear that Roy Moore not only believes he is above the law, he believes he is above judicial ethics...”

Photograph: Brynn Anderson/AP

Write-in votes for other candidates – among them Mickey Mouse and Jesus – helped tip the balance against Moore, who initially refused to concede defeat.

A Christian conservative hardliner, Moore has said homosexual conduct should be illegal and Muslims should not be allowed to serve in Congress.

He has twice been removed from the Alabama state supreme court, first for refusing to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments outside the court building and then for refusing to follow the US supreme court ruling that made same-sex marriage the law of the land.

During the campaign, Moore attracted controversy after he told the Guardian “maybe [Russian president Vladimir] Putin is right” to condemn same-sex marriage.

In a post to his campaign Facebook page this week, Moore thanked supporters who he said “helped me fight over $50m from Washington insiders who did not want me to bring the truth about God and our constitution to Washington DC”.

But, he said, he now faced “another vicious attack from lawyers in Washington DC and San Francisco who have hired one of the biggest firms in Birmingham, Alabama to bring another legal action against me and ensure that I never fight again”.

Moore added: “I will trust God that he will allow truth to prevail against the unholy forces of evil behind their attack.

“I have lawyers who want to help but they are not without cost and besides their fees, legal expenses could run over $100,000. I have had to establish a legal defense fund, anything you give will be appreciated.”

On Saturday morning, a secure donation page had raised a little over $32,000 of a $250,000 target.

Play Video 2:02 'Maybe Putin is right': Roy Moore speaks to the Guardian – video

Moore said: “The liberal media, in association with some who want to destroy our country, do not want my influence in the 2018 elections and are doing everything they can to stop me.

“Gays, lesbians, and transgenders have joined forces with those who believe in abortion, sodomy, and destruction of all that we hold dear. Unless we stand together we will lose our country.”

Moore laid blame for his defeat by Jones on “the Washington establishment, the Republican party, the Democrat party, the ultra-liberal media and people such as George Soros, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and many others who fear the truth.”

He added: “My resources have been depleted and I have struggled to make ends meet, but I have not lost my faith in our God, who is our true source of strength and will never leave or forsake us.”

In December, an Alabama state board approved an annual pension for Moore of $135,845.