Woman Shares New Details About Relationship With Roy Moore When She Was 17

A woman who had previously said that she dated Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore when she was a teenager and he was in his 30s has shared more details about their relationship with The Washington Post. Several women have accused Moore of sexually assaulting them when they were in their teens.

Debbie Wesson Gibson told The Post that she dated Moore for two months when she was 17 and he was 34, and that they broke up when she went away to college but their families exchanged Christmas cards for years after. She said she also helped him pass out fliers during his 1982 campaign for circuit-court judge.

Gibson found a card in her attic that Moore had given her for her high school graduation. It said, "Happy graduation Debbie. I wanted to give you this card myself. I know that you'll be a success in anything you do. Roy."

Moore has repeatedly denied the women's allegations, the most troubling of which is Leigh Corfman's. Corfman says Moore touched her sexually when she was 14 and he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney. He has said he does not know any of the women, although Gibson's account suggests a different story. Gibson said that she decided to contact The Post after she had heard him say that.

"He called me a liar," Gibson said. "Roy Moore made an egregious mistake to attack that one thing — my integrity."

She said that she began to reevaluate their relationship when she heard the other women's stories. When Beverly Young Nelson, who came forward in a news conference to accuse Moore of sexually assaulting her when she was 16, showed her high school yearbook with an inscription from Moore, Gibson said she was sure it was in his handwriting. (An FBI examiner looked at a photo of Gibson's graduation card and said it "appears to be naturally prepared," as well as similar to the handwriting in Nelson's yearbook entry, although he said it needs further examination.)

"I just couldn't imagine him doing something like that," Gibson told The Post. "And then when I saw the interview from Beverly, and I saw his handwriting in her yearbook, my heart just sank. And when I saw what I knew to be Roy Moore's handwriting, I just began to sob openly."

Gibson, who is now 54, lives in Florida and is registered as a Republican. She said she has received large amounts of hate mail since her first account was published in The Post about a month ago, and has notified the police.

The special Senate election is on December 12, and according to a new poll, at least 71% of Alabama Republicans say they don't believe the women who are accusing Moore. Earlier today, the White House confirmed that Trump is endorsing Moore.