Discredited former judge Roy Moore.

By Glynn Wilson —

MOBILE, Ala. — An attorney in Massachusetts has filed a formal legal complaint against U.S. Senate Candidate Roy Moore of Alabama for criminal acts, including “predatory sexual activity,” as well as dishonesty, fraud and deceit, engaging in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice and for trying to intimidate witnesses, including the news media.

The lawsuit is based on information reported by “reliable media outlets” including The Washington Post and the New American Journal.

Since Moore is licensed to practice law in Alabama and is a lawyer subject to the disciplinary authority of this jurisdiction and has previously been disciplined for misconduct in the course of his activities as a judge, he is subject to the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct.

In the complaint filed by J. Whitfield Larrabee of Brookline, Massachusetts, he alleges that Moore has engaged in “predatory sexual activity.”

“This predatory sexual activity has included sexual activity with minors as young as 14, sexual assault, attempted rape, sexual harassment and sexual abuse,” Larrabee says in the complaint.

Moore initiated a sexual encounter with Leigh Corfman in 1979, when she was 14 and he was 32. Then Moore knowingly lied in November of 2017 when he falsely denied that he engaged in sexual activity with Corfman and when he claimed to have “never known” Corfman and “never had any contact with her”.

Moore also sexually assaulted and attempted to rape Beverly Young Nelson, intimidating her at the time by telling her, “You’re just a child, I’m the district attorney. If you tell anyone about this no one will ever believe you.”

Then Moore rejected Nelson’s accusations.

“I can tell you without hesitation, this is absolutely false,” Moore said. “I never did what she said I did. I don’t even know the woman. I don’t know anything about her.”

“Moore’s claims were lies,” Larrabee says. “In fact, Moore came into Nelson’s workplace and signed her yearbook in December 1977.”

Also in 1977, Moore sexually harassed Gena Richardson by forcefully kissing her without her consent. Richardson was 18 years old at the time.

While he was in his 30s, Moore engaged in “sexually predatory activity, including sexual harassment,” in the Gadsen Mall in which he attempted to initiate sexual contact with minors/teenagers, according to the complaint.

One woman, Becky Gray, complained to her employer that Moore was sexually harassing her by making unwanted sexual advances. As a result, Moore was banned from the mall.

In 1991, Moore sexually assaulted Tina Johnson. Johnson visited Moore (now married) in his law office for a legal matter. Moore engaged in unwanted sexual behavior and “grabbed” Johnson’s buttocks as she left.

“As of the date that this complaint was filed, there are at least 8 women who have made credible sexual assault, sexual harassment or sexual misconduct complaints against Moore,” Larrabee says. “There are numerous other additional witnesses who provide corroboration of these allegations.”

In November of 2017, acting through his attorney, Moore threatened to file suit against The Washington Post and the Alabama Media Group (al.com) for their “truthful and accurate reporting about Moore’s sexual misconduct,” Larrabee says. “The reporting about these events by the media outlets was protected first amendment activity. The threatened suits were frivolous, insubstantial, wholly without merit and made in bad faith. If Moore files the suits, it will be an abuse of process and malicious prosecution. Moore’s activities in this regard are akin to witness intimidation.”

Larrabee says Moore’s accusers are witnesses that have relevant testimony for the Senate Ethics Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee if he is elected Dec. 12.

“Moore has made statements, directly and through his attorney, with the purpose and effect of threatening and intimidating his accusers and other witnesses against him, including reporters and other individuals in the news media,” Larrabee says.

To bolster the claims against Moore, the complaint reiterates that when he was the elected Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Moore was found guilty of six charges involving judicial misconduct and was suspended for the remainder of his term, slated to end in 2019. The charges included disregarding a federal injunction, demonstrated unwillingness to follow clear law, abuse of administrative authority, substituting his judgment for the judgement of the entire Alabama Supreme Court, including failure to abstain from public comment about a pending proceeding in his own court, and, interference with legal process and remedies in the United States District Court and/or Alabama Supreme Court related to proceedings in which Alabama probate judges were involved.

The complaint says Moore violated Rule 8.4(b) of the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct by engaging in criminal conduct that reflects “adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects.

Moore engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation in violation of Rule 8.4(c), and he violated and continues to violate Rule 8.4(d) by engaging “in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.”

The complaint requests that the Disciplinary Commission of the Alabama State Bar fully investigate the facts and violations described in this complaint and expeditiously and properly enforce the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct.

When asked to clear up any confusion going on around social media about the statute of limitations regarding Moore’s conduct, Larrabee said that while criminal statutes of limitation might bar prosecution of Moore for the sexual assault incidents that occurred decades ago, “Moore’s recent acts involving judicial misconduct, dishonesty, attempted interference with civil rights and witness intimidation probably will not be impacted by any statutes of limitation related to disciplinary actions by the Alabama State Bar.”

See the full Roy-Moore-Alabama-Bar-Complaint here.

Roy Moore and his attorney Trenton Garmon could not be reached for comment.