Last month, Leigh Corfman came forward with her story of being sexually assaulted by Roy Moore in 1979, when she was just 14 years old. On Monday, she appeared on Today to share more about what happened in an emotional interview.
Corfman describes being taken to Moore’s house, where he laid blankets on the floor and proceeded to “seduce” her. Corfman’s language about the encounter tries to account for her age at the time, and her understanding then of what was happening.
“I wouldn’t exactly call it a date. I would say it was a meet. At 14, I was not dating. At 14, I was not able to make those kind of choices,” she says.
After Moore removed most of her clothes, he left briefly, then returned in his underwear. Corfman says he touched her over her underclothes and tried to direct her to touch him. At that point, she pulled away, and said she had to leave. When asked if she was aware of being molested or assaulted, Corfman says that those words were not in her vocabulary at the time. It sounds as though she tried to contextualize the experience through her understanding of adult romance.
“I had been reading Harlequin romances for years, at that point. I was expecting candlelight and roses, what I got was very different,” she explains.
Corfman says that right after the experience she told three friends, and they all counseled her that seeing an older man was a bad idea. The next time Moore called, she made an excuse and didn’t go to meet him. Corfman says it took her years to get her confidence in herself back and she felt guilty for what happened. She says it took decades to let that go.
When asked why it has taken her so long to come forward, Corfman says she did tell people. Family and friends were aware of Moore’s assault of her. She says she was afraid of being a single parent with small children and coming forward, but had considered it many times. When the Washington Post sought her out, Corfman says she had to “make a decision.” She agreed to speak if they found others—and they did.
Meanwhile, Kellyanne Conway went on Fox and Friends Monday to imply that although Roy Moore appears to be a serial abuser of children, Republicans really, really need his vote for Trump’s tax plan.
Conway rants about Moore’s opponent Doug Jones, saying, “He will be a vote against tax cuts. he is weak on crime. Weak on borders. He is strong on raising your taxes. He is terrible for property owners—”
Brian Kilmeade interjects to ask, “So, vote Roy Moore?”
To which Conway responds, “Doug Jones is a doctrinate liberal, which is why he is not saying anything and why the media are trying to boost him.”
Again, Kilmeade asks, “So, vote Roy Moore?”
Conway won’t say yes, she just answers, “I’m telling you that we want the votes in the senate to get this tax bill through.” Then she veers off to say Al Franken should be on the “ashpile,” presumably without Moore by his side. Conway is willing to say that there are “no plans” for the president to go down to Alabama and openly stan for Roy Moore. But he’s not doing much to take a strong stance against sexual assault of children, either.
