Following last week’s bombshell allegations (as reported by the Washington Post) that Roy Moore had sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his 30s, another woman has come forward with accusations against the Senate candidate. Alongside attorney Gloria Allred at a press conference, Beverly Young Nelson alleged a sexual assault by Moore in the late 1970s. She was 15 years old, and he was at least 30. Nelson spoke of how Moore — then a well-known district attorney in Alabama — was a regular at the diner where she worked.
Moore told reporters how she left her shift on a cold winter night, and Moore offered her a ride home. Nelson trusted him because he was a district attorney, but she grew alarmed when he didn’t actually begin to drive her home. She claimed that he drove to the back of the restaurant’s parking lot and tried to force her into performing oral sex:
“He stopped the car, and he parked his car in between the dumpster and the back of the restaurant. He began groping me, and putting his hand on my breast … I tried fighting him off while yelling at him to stop … [he] began squeezing my neck while attempting to push my head onto his crotch.”
Nelson said she continued to struggle, and Moore finally gave up before telling her that “You’re just a child … I am the District Attorney of Etowah County. And if you tell anyone about this, no one will ever believe you.”
After Nelson concluded her account, she and Allred presented the yearbook that Moore had previously signed (on December 22, 1977) with “love.” She also spoke of how honored she had felt when he praised her as a “sweet” and “beautiful girl.”
Within the press conference, Allred challenged the Senate to hold a hearing on Moore within two weeks. The famed attorney also stressed that her representation of Nelson was not politically motivated, and Nelson echoed the sentiment while pointedly telling reporters that she voted Republican in the last presidential election.
You can watch the full press conference below.
(Video via Associated Press)