Two more women accuse Moore of unwanted advances

Two additional women have come forward to accuse Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore of making unwanted advances toward them, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. 

One woman, Gena Richardson, said she first met Moore at the Gadsden Mall, where she worked, when he asked for her phone number. After Richardson refused, Moore several days later called Richardson at her school and asked her out once again, she told the Post.

Richardson said she first met Moore in 1977, around the time she turned 18. He would have been 30 at the time, the newspaper noted.

{mosads}She said she agreed to go out with Moore after he again asked her out at her place of work. She told the Post that the encounter led to a “forceful” kiss.

“It was a man kiss — like really deep tongue. Like very forceful tongue. It was a surprise. I’d never been kissed like that,” Richardson told the newspaper. “And the minute that happened, I got scared then. I really did. Something came over me that scared me. And so I said, ‘I’ve got to go, because my curfew is now.’”

Another woman, 62-year-old Becky Gray, said Moore repeatedly asked her to go out on dates with him when she was 22 years old and working at the Gadsden Mall.

“I’d always say no, I’m dating someone, no, I’m in a relationship,” Gray told the newspaper. “I thought he was old at that time. Anyone over 22 was just old.” 

The newspaper said it spoke to a dozen individuals who either spent time at the Gadsden Mall during this time or worked there and remember Moore continuously making appearances, which several of the women said made them feel uneasy.

The Moore campaign in a statement to the Post once again argued that the accusations are politically charged.

“If you are a liberal and hate Judge Moore, apparently he groped you,” the campaign told the newspaper. “If you are a conservative and love Judge Moore, you know these allegations are a political farce.”

Multiple women have come forward to accuse Moore of misconduct following a story published last week in The Washington Post that included an account from one woman who said in 1979, when she was 14, Moore initiated a sexual encounter with her. Moore, who would have been 32 at the time, has denied this accusation. 

The Post’s original story also included three women who said Moore made advances toward them around the same time, when they were between 16 and 18 years old. Two of these three women told the newspaper they had encountered Moore at the Gadsden Mall.

The Alabama Republican in an interview last week admitted that during this time in his life he may have dated women in their late teens, but that he did not “remember anything like that.”

Others have come forward with their own stories about Moore since the original accusations were revealed last week. One woman accused Moore earlier this week of sexually assaulting her when she was 16.

A Moore attorney on Wednesday sought to cast doubt on this accusation, calling for the release of a yearbook that belongs to the accuser and contains Moore’s signature, proving he knew her at the time. The attorney insinuated the signature is a forgery.

Two women who spoke to AL.com in a story published Wednesday also detailed encounters with Moore. One said Moore groped her in 1991, when he was married, while another said he asked her out on a date in 1982 when she was 17.

Despite multiple Republican senators revoking their endorsements of Moore in the wake of the allegations, the former judge has remained defiant, insisting he will not quit the Senate race. He is running against Democrat Doug Jones in a special election race to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Several Republican lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), have said Moore should exit the race. The Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee have both cut fundraising ties with the Moore campaign.