Alabama woman Beverly Young Nelson claimed Monday that Judge Roy Moore sexually assaulted her when she was a 16-year old waitress 40 years ago — telling her story at a New York City press conference held by high-profile liberal attorney Gloria Allred.
Nelson, 56, sat next to Allred and stated that she came to know Roy Moore when she was 15 years old, working in a local restaurant near her high school. Moore was, according to her, a regular, eating in the same seat every night and often complimenting her on her looks.
According to Nelson’s statement, one night, shortly after her 16th birthday, in December 1977, Moore offered her a ride home, only to pull his car around back of the restaurant. She says he then locked his car doors, grabbed her, and attempted to violently force her face into his crotch. She resisted fiercely, the statement read, incurring bruises before he released her.
“I thought he was going to rape me,” Nelson said. “At some point, he gave up.”
Nelson claims Moore told her, “You are just a child and I am the District Attorney of Etowah County; if you tell anyone, no one will believe you,” and then let her out of the car.
According to Allred, Nelson’s sister told her law firm that Beverly related the story to her while still a teenager, that her mother heard of the alleged assault a few years ago, and her husband of 13 years discussed the matter with his wife before they were married.
Nelson produced a high school yearbook which she says is signed by Moore. “To a sweeter, more beautiful girl I could not say ‘merry Christmas,'” the inscription reads.
The note is signed “Roy Moore, D.A.,” and includes the date and venue of their purported interaction.
Allred claimed Nelson did not come forward over the last four decades because she “feared Mr. Moore and the power he had.” Nelson is, according to Allred, a Trump-supporting Republican who came to her for representation, not the other way around.
Allred is demanding that the Senate Judiciary Committee hold a hearing where Nelson would testify under oath, as the statute of limitation has long since run on these allegations.
Nelson’s claims come after another woman, Leigh Corfman, told the Washington Post that Moore tried to push her hand toward his crotch after driving her up to his home when she was fourteen years old.
The Moore campaign pre-emptively responded to the allegations, issuing a statement shortly before the press conference. Campaign Chairman Bill Armistead called Allred a “sensationalist lawyer” and wrote:
Gloria Allred is a sensationalist leading a witch hunt, and she is only around to create a spectacle. Allred was the attorney who claims credit for giving us Roe v. Wade which has resulted in the murder of tens of millions of unborn babies.
We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again: Judge Moore is an innocent man and has never had any sexual misconduct with anyone. This is a witch hunt against a man who has had an impeccable career for over 30 years and has always been known as a man of high character.
Let it be understood: the truth will come forward, we will pursue all legal options against these false claims and Judge Moore will be vindicated.
A prominent plaintiff’s attorney and proponent left-wing social causes for decades, Allred also pursued a lawsuit against then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, representing three women who claimed last year that he sexually assaulted them. Around the same time the suit was filed, Allred was also serving as a delegate for Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention.
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