Leigh Corfman, who accused former Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexual abuse, filed a defamation lawsuit against him Thursday.
Corfman was only a teen when then 32-year-old Moore allegedly touched her inappropriately during an encounter. She said he first approached her as she waited outside a custody hearing at the Etowah County courthouse with her mother. Corfman admitted she arranged to meet Moore later and he took her to his home. She claimed he took off her shirt and pants and then started touching her over her bra and underwear.
After Corfman went public about the alleged abuse, Moore and his campaign reportedly denied the accusations and made untrue statements about the woman.
“Mr. Moore sexually abused me when I was only 14 years old. Then he and his campaign called me a liar and immoral when I publicly disclosed his misconduct,” Corfman said in a statement. “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.”
The lawsuit demands for the defendants to take back all defamatory statements made against Corfman, to make a public apology about the statements and avoid making further defamatory statements. It also seeks financial compensation for Corfman’s own legal costs.
The lawsuit additionally brought up an open letter Corfman sent Moore on Nov. 28, asking him to stop denying the sexual abuse she endured in 1979, acknowledge his wrongdoing and apologize.
However, according to the lawsuit, “Moore continued his attacks, accusing Ms. Corfman of lying and having improper purposes. He made these statements at campaign rallies, in interviews, on the internet, on the radio, on television, and in newspapers. Mr. Moore has claimed, among other assertions, that Ms. Corfman’s account is ‘completely false,’ ‘malicious,’ ‘politically motivated,’ that it reflects ‘the immorality of our time,’ and that ‘there is not one ounce of truth in her accusations.”
The statements made by moore deeply affected Corfman and even caused her to take a leave of absence from her job without pay.
The lawsuit claims Corfman’s only motivation is to clear her name and stop Moore from continuing to make defamatory statements against her.
“Ms. Corfman wishes that defendants had heeded her requests to cease their defamation of her and seeks judicial intervention as a last resort to hold Defendants accountable for their misconduct, including a declaration that defendants’ denials of Mr. Moore’s sexual abuse of her and their characterization of her account of this abuse as ‘false,’ ‘malicious,’ and ‘immoral,’ among other untrue statements, are defamatory, as well as injunctive relief against these statements.”
Corfman isn’t the only one who has accused Moore of sexual misconduct. Several other women have come forward and alleged Moore of sexually abusing them when they were teens.
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