No Defamation in Dueling Lawsuits Stemming from Roy Moore Molestation Allegations, Which He Denies

Jessica McGowan/Getty

An Alabama jury has reportedly found that neither Roy Moore nor one of his accusers defamed the another in a case of dueling lawsuits that came to a head last week.

The case involved Moore — a former Republican Senate candidate and Alabama Supreme Court justice — who had been accused of sexually assaulted a then 14-year-old Leigh Corfman in 1979.

Corfman filed a defamation suit against Moore four years ago, after the politician denied her account. After Moore counter-sued, a jury was asked to find in favor of either of the two on Wednesday, following two hours of closing arguments.

Instead, the jury found that neither party defamed the other — a decision that both sides claimed as a victory.

"He's been justified and vindicated," Moore's attorney Julian McPhillips said following the verdict, Alabama News Network reported. "They were not true, and it proves they were false and malicious by the jury verdict."

Corfman's attorney Neil Roman offered his own assessment regarding the verdict, albeit one in which his client was the victor: "I think that they believe Leigh. I think they just think that Mr. Moore's statements about her did not rise to the level of defamation or they weren't sufficiently impugning to her honesty and integrity."

Moore had sought monetary damages but Corfman did not, and neither will collect damages due to the verdict.

RELATED: Woman Accuses Alabama Senate Candidate Roy Moore of Initiating Sexual Contact When She Was 14

Corfman has claimed that, when she was 14 years old and Moore was an assistant district attorney in his 30s, he took her to his home on two occasions. On the second, she alleges, he removed some pieces of her clothing and touched her over her underwear.

Corfman's was one of several stories to emerge during Moore's 2017 bid for an Alabama Senate seat, when at least four women came forward and accused Moore of sexually assaulting them while they were underage and when he was a district attorney in his 30s.

One woman said she was 16 when Moore allegedly "began squeezing my neck and attempting to force my head into his crotch."

Those allegations — made to the Washington Post a month before Alabama's 2017 Senate election — are widely seen as contributing to Moore's narrow loss to Democrat Doug Jones.

Moore has adamantly denied the accounts of sexual impropriety and the news made national headlines after former President Donald Trump endorsed Moore despite the allegations.

RELATED: Judge Dismisses Roy Moore's $95M Lawsuit Against Sacha Baron Cohen Over Who Is America? Prank

Testimony delivered during the defamation trial reportedly grew emotional, with Corfman telling jurors during the 8-day trial that she has "lived with this for 40 years."

She added that she told her story not for media attention — but so a "predator" would not have a seat in the U.S. Senate.

"My motivation for telling the story was that people had the right to choose for themselves, who to vote for," she said in her testimony, as reported by The Montgomery Advertiser. "I didn't want to see my predator sitting in the Senate."

Moore, meanwhile, said he "never knew" Corfman.

"I do not have anything to apologize and I did not do anything wrong," he said during the trial.