A former prosecutor who worked in Alabama with GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore in the early 1980s told CNN on Saturday that it was “common knowledge” that Moore dated teenagers — and people thought it was “weird.”
“It was common knowledge that Roy dated high school girls. Everyone we knew thought it was weird,” former Etowah County deputy district attorney Teresa Jones told CNN national correspondent Alexander Marquardt. “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.”
Marquardt reached out to Jones after a comment she posted in response to a story in the Gadsden Times.
When asked on Twitter why girls didn’t step forward at the time, Jones responded: “At that time, in that atmosphere unless the girls came forward with specifics, then no, no charges could have been brought. The Weinstein, Hoffman, etc. revelations have made it far more palatable for women to come forward.”
Jones spoke out as Moore was vehemently denying an explosive Washington Post story about his alleged history of pursuing teenagers when he was in his 30s. Leigh Corfman told the Post that Moore, 32 at the time, removed her shirt and pants at his home in 1979 when she was just 14, touched her through her bra and guided her hand to his genitals over his underwear.
Moore on Saturday promised there would be “revelations” about the accusations.
“I am not guilty of sexual misconduct with anyone,” Moore said during a Veterans Day speech in Gadsden, and called the allegations “hurtful.” He insisted the Post story was politically motivated, aimed at damaging his chances in the Dec. 12 special election for the U.S. Senate seat in Alabama.
“To think that grown women would wait 40 years .... to bring charges is absolutely unbelievable,” Moore said. “There are investigations going on. In the next few days, there will be revelations about the motivations and the content of this article.”
When Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Moore on Friday on his radio program if he remembered dating teenagers when he was in his 30s, Moore responded: “Not generally, no.”
Jones worked as deputy district attorney for Etowah County, Ala., from 1982 to 1985. Moore worked in the same office as deputy district attorney from 1977 to 1982. He would have been approximately 35 to 38 years old during the time he worked with Jones.
Jones is currently a partner at the Syprett, Meshad, Resnick, Lieb, Dumbaugh, Jones, Krotec & Westheimer, P.A. law firm based in Sarasota, Florida. The HuffPost has reached out to her for further comment.
It remains to be seen how badly the Post story will hurt Moore. Several Republican politicians have criticized Moore, and three GOP senators —Sens. Steve Daines (Mont.), Bill Cassidy (La.) and Mike Lee (Utah) — have rescinded their support.
Donald Trump has said Moore should drop out of the race — if the allegations are true.