After a woman accused GOP Senate nominee Roy Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 14 years old, Moore’s former colleague has now claimed that it was “common knowledge” that he dated teenagers. The Huffington Post says that a former prosecutor who worked with Moore in Alabama in the 1980s revealed that everyone thought Moore’s actions were “weird.”
Teresa Jones, a former Etowah County deputy district attorney, initially shared her connection to Moore via a comment posted to a news story reporting the allegation against Moore. “I have no doubt these stories have validity,” Jones wrote in the comments section of the Alabama paper Gadsden Times. “Roy was known to eschew dating his own age and preferred teenagers. I challenge all of my colleagues in the Bar and on the bench at that time to…support that Roy Moore should not be elected to represent the place of my birth and my home for many years.”
Original tweet by Teresa Jones: “I have no doubt these stories [about Roy Moore] have validity.” pic.twitter.com/oPWaeKrS8W
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) November 11, 2017
Jones then spoke with CNN national correspondent Alexander Marquardt, saying of Moore’s dating choices, “Everyone we knew thought it was weird. We wondered why someone his age would hang out at high school football games and the mall. But you really wouldn’t say anything to someone like that.”
Moore has denied the claims made against him, while three Republican senators have pulled their endorsements of him for Senate following the allegations. He worked with Jones in 1982, when he was in his thirties. President Donald Trump has said that if reports are true, Moore should step aside ahead of the Dec. 12 special Senate election.