5 Key Details In The Roy Moore Sexual Misconduct Story

WASHINGTON, DC — Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama's upcoming election, allegedly had a sexual encounter with Leigh Corfman, a 14-year-old girl, when he was in his 30s, according to a story in The Washington Post published Thursday. Moore and his campaign fervently denied the story's accusations, calling the story "fake news."

But the reporting in The Post goes far beyond mere "he said, she said" and counter-accusations. The deeply reported piece also cites three other women who say Moore made advances toward them as teenagers, and it corroborates some of the facts of Corfman's story.

Here are five key details to know about the story:

1. The main claim: Moore touched Corfman sexually when she was 14

Moore, at the time an assistant district attorney, drove the 14-year-old Corfman to his home, where he molested her, Corfman told The Post.

"He touched her over her bra and underpants, she says, and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear," the newspaper wrote.

Corfman says she told Moore she was only 14 and and he gave her alcohol anyway.

The Post says that under Alabama law, at the time of the reported encounter as now, it was a second degree crime for someone over the age of 19 to have sexual contact with someone 16 or under.

2. Corfman's mother and friends offer partial corroboration of the story.

Corfman's mother, Nancy Wells, told The Post Moore met her and her daughter when they were at a courthouse. A friend named Betsy Davis says she talked to Corfman about her seeing an "older man" named Roy Moore when they were teenagers. A second friend of Corfman's anonymously confirmed that she remembered Corfman talking about seeing an older man when she was a teenager.

Wells, the mother, said Corfman told her the story more than 10 years after it happened when Moore was a judge.

3. Court records also back up the story.

Corfman and her mother say they first met Moore at a courthouse when Wells and her husband were getting divorced. The Post found court records showing that, in February 1979, Wells went to a hearing at the courthouse where Moore worked at the time.

4. Three other women say Moore pursued them between the ages of 16 and 18.

Unlike the encounter described between Moore and Corfman, there's nothing necessarily illegal about Moore's relationships with three other teenage women. All three say their relationship with Moore did not go beyond kissing. They did not say Moore forced himself on them, but they said that when they grew up, they began to see his interest in them as teenagers "troubling."

5. The women were reluctant to come forward, according to the Post.

While the Moore campaign has already called the report a "desperate political attack," there's no indication in the story that the women have any political motivation. The report says Post reporters pursued the story about Moore becoming involved with teenage girls, and that the women did not come to the newspaper with the story.

"All were initially reluctant to speak publicly but chose to do so after multiple interviews, saying they thought it was important for people to know about their interactions with Moore," the story says.

It says the Corfman's account of her encounter with Moore was consistent across six interviews. The reporters also note that none of the women donated to Moore's opponents' campaigns.

Watch: Alabama Weighs In On Roy Moore Accusations

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