Roy Moore accuser Leigh Coffman demands apology in an emotional open letter

The controversial Senate candidate has been accused by several women of pursuing them when they were teenagers and he was in his thirties

Leigh Corfman, who says Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore touched her sexually when she was 14 and he was 32, has written him an emotional letter insisting he stop calling her a liar.

Corfman wrote and hand-delivered the letter to AL.com after hearing that Moore, now the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, had called her and several other women's accusations "completely false" and "malicious" at a campaign rally in Henagar, Alabama, earlier this week. It was his first public appearance in almost two weeks.

"When you personally denounced me last night and called me slanderous names, I decided that I am done being silent," Corfman wrote. "What you did to me when I was 14-years old should be revolting to every person of good morals. But now you are attacking my honesty and integrity. Where does your immorality end?"

Corfman confirmed the authenticity of the letter to The Post.

Corfman told The Washington Post that when she was a teenager in 1979, Roy Moore - then an assistant district attorney - approached her outside of an Alabama courtroom and asked for her phone number, and then, days later, drove her about 30 minutes to his home in the woods and kissed her. On a second visit, he took off his shirt and pants and removed his clothes, then touched her over her bra and underpants, she says, and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear.

Several other women have since accused Moore of pursuing them when they were teenagers when he was in his early thirties.

Moore has denied the allegations. His campaign has begun to fight back, and in a recent ad, Republican women defend Moore, saying that "the establishment is trying to stop" him. And if voters choose to ignore Moore's accusers ahead of the Dec. 12 special Senate election, a win is still in reach.

While President Donald Trump will not travel to Alabama to campaign for Moore, he continues to support his candidacy by criticising his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones. The state's highest-ranking female Republicans, Gov. Kay Ivey and Alabama GOP Chairman Terry Lathan, have also reaffirmed their support for Moore.

At the campaign rally earlier this week, Moore said that with two weeks left until the election, "pictures of young children - whose names are not mentioned and I do not know - appear conveniently on the opposition's ads."

"These allegations are completely false. They are malicious. Specifically, I do not know any of these women nor have I ever engaged in sexual misconduct with anyone," he said.

Corfman in the letter said she was not "getting paid to speak up" or "getting rewarded" by Moore's political opponents, adding that "What you did to me when I was 14-years old should be revolting to every person of good morals."

Here's the letter in full:

Mr. Moore,

When The Washington Post approached me about what you did to me as a child, I told them what happened, just as I had told family and friends years before. I stand by every word.

You responded by denying the truth. You told the world that you didn't even know me. Others in recent days have had the decency to acknowledge their hurtful actions and apologize for similar behavior, but not you.

So I gave an interview on television so that people could judge for themselves whether I was telling the truth.

You sent out your spokesmen to call me a liar. Day after day.

Finally, last night, you did the dirty work yourself. You called me malicious, and you questioned my motivation in going public.

I explained my motivation on the Today show. I said that this is not political for me, this is personal. As a 14-year old, I did not deserve to have you, a 32-year old, prey on me. I sat quietly for too long, out of concern for my family. No more.

I am not getting paid for speaking up. I am not getting rewarded from your political opponents. What I am getting is stronger by refusing to blame myself and speaking the truth out loud.

The initial barrage of attacks against me voiced by your campaign spokespersons and others seemed petty so I did not respond.

But when you personally denounced me last night and called me slanderous names, I decided that I am done being silent. What you did to me when I was 14-years old should be revolting to every person of good morals. But now you are attacking my honesty and integrity. Where does your immorality end?

I demand that you stop calling me a liar and attacking my character. Your smears and false denials, and those of others who repeat and embellish them, are defamatory and damaging to me and my family.

I am telling the truth, and you should have the decency to admit it and apologize.

Leigh Corfman

The Washington Post