A former colleague of embattled Alabama Republican Senate Nominee Roy Moore said on Saturday that it was open secret the former judge dated high school girls during the 1980s.
Teresa Jones, who worked with Moore as a deputy district attorney for Etowah County, Ala., from 1982 until 1985, said that it was ‘common knowledge’ the controversial politician allegedly preferred younger women.
‘It was common knowledge that Roy Moore dated high school girls, everyone we knew thought it was weird,’ Jones told CNN.
Moore, 70, vehemently denies the allegations, questioning the timing of the accusations (Pictured: Roy Moore and Democratic opponent Doug Jones)
‘We wondered why someone his age would hang out at high school football games and the mall … but you really wouldn’t say anything to someone like that.’
Moore has been mired in scandal since the Washington Post reported on Thursday that he had inappropriately touched a 14-year-old girl when he was in his early 30s.
The Post also alleges that he pursued sexual relationships with a 16-year-old girl and two 18-year-old females during a stretch in the 1970s.
The age of consent in Alabama is 16 years of age.
Moore, 70, vehemently denies the allegations, saying that he believes the timing of the accusations are aimed at undermining his candidacy.
‘In the next few days there will be revelations about the motivation and the content of this article,’ Moore said during a Birmingham campaign rally on Saturday.
Mitch McConnell (pictured) says if the allegations are true, Moore should withdraw from the race
‘I do not expect the Washington Post to stop. I think they have a political agenda,’ he said.
Moore went on to accuse the paper, whose editorial board endorsed his Democratic opponent Doug Jones, of ‘yet another attack on my character and reputation in a desperate attempt to stop my political campaign for United States Senate.’
The former Alabama Supreme Court Judge did say, however, that ‘after my return from the military, I dated a lot of young ladies’ during a recent interview with Sean Hannity.
Moore is running to become Alabama’s next US Senator, a seat left open by Jeff Sessions who took a job with the Trump Administration to head the Justice Department in January.
Republicans on Capital Hill have been quick to distance themselves from the arch social conservative, with Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) saying if the allegations are true, Moore should withdraw from the race.
President Donald Trump, who is on the last leg of a 12 day, five country visit to Asia, saying he’s been too busy to follow the Moore saga.
President Donald Trump, who is on the last leg of a 12 day, five country visit to Asia, saying he’s been too busy to follow the Moore saga