MONTGOMERY, Ala.: A judge in Alabama has dismissed a defamation claim against Roy Moore’s unsuccessful Senate campaign that was filed by a woman who accused Moore of molesting her decades ago when she was 14.
The case against Moore, which arose from his losing 2018 bid for the U.S. Senate, is continuing and is set for trial this fall.
Montgomery Circuit Judge John E. Rochester last week ruled that Leigh Corfman did not prove that campaign staff and volunteers knowingly made false statements or acted with reckless disregard for the truth, as they denied the misconduct claims in the midst of the 2018 race.
The judge also ruled that Corfman was a limited-purpose public figure, a status that makes a defamation claim harder to prove.
Corfman is among several women who said Moore pursued sexual and romantic relationships with them decades ago when they were teens and he was a prosecutor in his 30s. Moore, an outspoken Christian conservative and former state Supreme Court judge, denied the…