Report: Roy Moore Banned From A Mall For Allegedly Creeping On Teenage Girls

Roy Moore’s latest accuser, Beverly Young Nelson, came out yesterday with a compelling accusation of her own. She claims Moore sexually abused her when she was only a minor. She detailed one instance where he allegedly squeezed her neck and forced her head onto his crotch. She claims he told her, “You’re just a child, I’m the district attorney if you tell anyone about this no one will ever believe you.”

Beverly Young-Nelson, who says Senate candidate Roy Moore sexually assaulted her, worked as a waitress in Gadsden, AL as a teenager: https://t.co/jrzsy7IrVy pic.twitter.com/bZyraUBtUX

— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 13, 2017

“Mr. Moore reached over and began groping me, him putting his hands on my breast,” Beverly Young-Nelson says, describing alleged assault in Moore’s car https://t.co/jrzsy7IrVy pic.twitter.com/U1WM9CphnM

— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 13, 2017

“If you tell anyone about this, no one will ever believe you,” accuser Beverly Young-Nelson says Roy Moore told her after alleged sexual assault https://t.co/jrzsy7IrVy pic.twitter.com/RdVjL9ci5Z

— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 13, 2017

Her proof included a yearbook, signed by Moore.

“To a sweeter, more beautiful girl, I could not say ‘Merry Christmas,’” the note read. He signed it, “Love, Roy Moore D.A.”

Yeahhhhh. That’s weird.

A rep for Moore initially responded with this statement:

“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.”

Moore briefly addressed Nelson’s accusations and adamantly denied them.

“This is absolutely false,” Moore said. “I never did what she said I did. I don’t even know the woman. I don’t know anything about her. I don’t even know where the restaurant is or was.”

He did sign her yearbook, so he obviously knew her. That’s just a fact.

Every story makes him look worse. Including this.

According to that sourcelink, Moore was banned from an Alabama mall (the Gadsden Mall) and the YMCA for allegedly creeping on teenage girls. Apparently, Moore had a bad reputation. Everyone in town knew the rumors.

This past weekend, I spoke or messaged with more than a dozen people—including a major political figure in the state—who told me that they had heard, over the years, that Moore had been banned from the mall because he repeatedly badgered teen-age girls. Some say that they heard this at the time, others in the years since. These people include five members of the local legal community, two cops who worked in the town, several people who hung out at the mall in the early eighties, and a number of former mall employees. (A request for comment from the Moore campaign was not answered.) Several of them asked that I leave their names out of this piece. The stories that they say they’ve heard for years have been swirling online in the days since the Post published its report. “Sources tell me Moore was actually banned from the Gadsden Mall and the YMCA for his inappropriate behavior of soliciting sex from young girls,” the independent Alabama journalist Glynn Wilson wrote on his Web site on Sunday. (Wilson declined to divulge his sources.) Teresa Jones, a deputy district attorney for Etowah County in the early eighties, told CNN last week that “it was common knowledge that Roy dated high-school girls.” Jones told me that she couldn’t confirm the alleged mall banning, but said, “It’s a rumor I’ve heard for years.”

I know, I know. Still no concrete proof, but it certainly sounds bad.

Legat says that he saw Moore there a few times, even though his understanding then was that he had already been banned. “It started around 1979, I think,” Legat said. “I know the ban was still in place when I got there.” Legat recalled a Gadsden police officer named J. D. Thomas, now retired, who worked security at the mall. “J. D. was a fixture there, when I was working at the store,” Legat said. “He really looked after the kids there. He was a good guy. J. D. told me, ‘If you see Roy, let me know. He’s banned from the mall.’ ” Legat recalled Thomas telling him, “If you see Moore here, tell me. I’ll take care of him.’ ” Legat said that his boss, Eddie Hill, also told him to look for Moore. A phone call to Hill’s number was not returned.

I’m starting to think he should just drop out. I know he may be innocent, and we can’t overlook the timing. It’s questionable. A lot of this reminds me of what they did to Herman Cain, but at the end of the day, there’s really no way to know for sure. These stories make him look sleazy and disgusting, and maybe he is. We don’t know for sure.

It’s his word against everyone else’s. I don’t think he’s defending himself well.