Elliott Lipinsky, a deputy district attorney in Wilcox County who is running for state auditor, said State Auditor Jim Zeigler's comments about the Washington Post story on Roy Moore were "disturbing."

Lipinsky, 31, who lives in Pike Road, has announced he is running for the Republican nomination for auditor in next June's primary.

Zeigler, who was elected in 2014 and has not said whether he is seeking a second term, has endorsed Moore and defended Moore on the allegation by a woman in the Post story that Moore dated her and had a sexual encounter with her when she was 14 and Moore was 32. Moore has vehemently denied the allegation.

"The allegations might prove to be just a political ploy," Lipinsky said. "It's suspicious timing for sure. You hope they're not true and you have to wait and see. Moore has come out and denied it so you would think that he's telling the truth."

Zeigler also questioned the truthfulness of the allegation and noted Moore's strong denial. In addition, Zeigler said that even if the allegation was true, it did not involve sexual intercourse. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, he mentioned relationships in the Bible between men and much younger women and said there was "nothing illegal or immoral here."

In response to that, Lipinsky said, "To suggest that if the allegations are true they don't amount to much is really disturbing. If the allegations are true we're talking about child abuse and that's the kind of thing I try to work to prosecute to protect the people of Alabama as a lifelong prosecutor. Just troubled by the auditor's attempt to justify this potentially egregious behavior by not only citing the Bible but saying that there's not much to it if it is true."

Zeigler, asked to respond to Lipinsky's comments today, stressed that he believes the story about Moore is not true and called the story a "hit piece."

"The allegations against Roy Moore were from about 39 years ago," Zeigler said. "I do not believe them. The accuser is not credible. Roy Moore has been through two campaigns for governor and two for chief justice. Why is this allegation coming out at this time?"

Zeigler said the story has fired up Moore's voting base more than ever and predicted they will turn out on Dec. 12.

Moore faces Democratic nominee Doug Jones in the special election for the U.S. Senate.