Roy Moore Accuser Says Candidate Groped Her To 'Feel Powerful'

One of the women accusing Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexual assault opened up about the alleged experience Friday morning on “Megyn Kelly Today.”

One of the women accusing Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexual assault opened up about the alleged experience Friday morning on “Megyn Kelly Today.”

“I think he wanted to take my power so he could feel powerful,” Tina Johnson told Kelly.

Johnson told AL.com earlier this week that the incident with Moore happened in 1991 as she was visiting his law office with her mother. Johnson’s mother had hired Moore to handle custody paperwork for her daughter’s son as Johnson, then 28, neared divorce.

“It was ongoing flirting,” Johnson described the meeting to Kelly, saying that Moore commented on her looks and asked her on a date. She said the meeting was already difficult for her because she had to rely on her mother to pay for the attorney’s services.

Moore’s behavior made the situation more “uncomfortable,” Johnson said, but “bells went off” when he began asking about her other children, two girls. She said he asked whether her daughters shared her “pretty eyes.”

When the meeting ended, Johnson got up to leave, with her mother ahead of her. Moore then allegedly took the opportunity to grope her rear.

“He just grabbed my behind,” she told Kelly. “I mean, forcefully grabbed it. And I just walked out. I was so ashamed. I thought I did something. I felt the dress I was wearing was inappropriate. It was long, it went to my knees.”

Asked whether she was politically active or had any political motivation for sharing her story now, Johnson said no, “none.” She felt the need to speak up after hearing another Alabama resident defending Moore’s alleged behavior.

“Roy Moore has a lot of Christian-based [supporters],” she said. “When you’re telling me it is OK for you to grope a 14-year-old, there is something wrong.”

Johnson is joined by at least eight other women who have lodged misconduct accusations against Moore ranging from harassment to attempted rape. Four came forward in a damaging Washington Post report published last week, saying that Moore pursued them when they were in their teens and he was in his 30s.

One of those women, Leigh Corfman, said she was just 14 when Moore brought her to his home in a wooded area where he kissed and groped her.

A fifth woman, Beverly Young Nelson, shared a troubling story about Moore during a press conference held by attorney Gloria Allred earlier this week. She said that while she was working as a waitress at age 16, Moore offered to give her a ride home but instead drove to a secluded area and sexually assaulted her. He was serving as a district attorney in Etowah County at the time.

AL.com reported that another woman, Kelly Harrison Thorp, was working as a waitress at age 17 when Moore asked her out, allegedly telling her, “I go out with girls your age all the time.”

Two more women shared stories about Moore in a report published by the Post on Wednesday, saying the incidents occurred when the women worked at an Alabama mall as young adults. Gena Richardson says Moore repeatedly asked her out around the time of her 18th birthday and, after she denied him, called her at school during a trigonometry class. She agreed to a date, but said that a “forceful” kiss left her scared. The other woman, Becky Gray, said that Moore repeatedly badgered her for a date when she was 22 years old in a way that made her uncomfortable.

Moore has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, blaming partisan politics and attempting to discredit his accusers.

Several prominent Republican politicians ― including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) ― have said he should leave the Senate race.

President Donald Trump, however, has not called for Moore to step aside. Despite questioning by reporters on Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders flatly refused to comment on whether the president supports the embattled candidate.

Ivanka Trump, the president’s elder daughter, addressed the scandal in an oblique way on Wednesday, saying “there is a special place in hell for people who prey on children.”

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.