Roy Moore's reputed preference for dating teens was apparently an open secret in Gadsden, Alabama

A man in Gadsden, Alabama, talks about Roy Moore
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/CNN)

Roy Moore has a point. He has been in public office on and off since being named deputy district attorney in Etowah County in 1977, so why has no political opponent raised questions before about the sexual misconduct allegations roiling his campaign for a Senate seat in Alabama? The women accusing him of pestering, fondling, or assaulting them have an answer for that. "If anybody had asked, we would have told it," Tina Johnson, who says Moore groped her in 1991, tells AL.com. "No one asked."

It's not clear why nobody before The Washington Post bothered asking, because now that reporters are flocking to Gadsden, Alabama, lots of people have stories about Moore chasing teenage girls when he was in his 30s — at the mall, the YMCA, the courthouse, restaurants. For years, the rumors "simmered at a low level," The New York Times reports, "mostly deemed moderately creepy rather than criminal." "Numerous people pulled us over, Democrats and Republicans, to tell us about their claims of things they say they saw or things they heard about Moore's behavior with teenage girls before he got married in 1985," CNN's Gary Tuchman said from Gadsden on Tuesday, but only one of them was willing to go on camera:

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.