Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Alabama was reportedly banned from a mall in the 1980s because he became known for trying to pick up young girls.
The Gadsden Mall was a popular place for young people to hang out, or go see movies in the 1980s, but new reports allege the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate used to frequent the social meeting spot and make advances on young women.
According to the New Yorker, several former mall employees, at least two police officers and local people who used to hang out at the Gadsden Mall in the 1980s all say they either remember or have heard of Moore being banned from the mall because he became known for making advances on teenage girls.
A former mall employee told The New Yorker that a police officer who worked at the mall asked him to security guard asked him to be on the lookout for Moore, saying he was “banned from the mall.” Another police officer said it was “common knowledge” that Moore had a reputation for “cruising the mall for high school dates.”
AL.com reports five Etowah County residents spoke to them with similar stories.
“Him liking and dating young girls was never a secret in Gadsden when we were all in high school,” said Sheryl Porter to AL.com “In our neighborhoods up by Noccalula Falls we heard it all the time. Even people at the courthouse know it was a well-known secret,” she added. Moore was a district attorney in the 1970s and it was recently reported that several women have come forward to accuse Moore of having sexual contact with teenagers.
The Washington Post reports, one of Moore’s accusers, Wendy Moore, recalls her first encounter with him when she was 14-years-old. She was working as a Santa’s helper at the mall during the holiday season when Moore first tried to approach her. She told The Washington Post Moore asked her on dates two years later when she was 16.
Roy Moore continues to deny allegations of sexual misconduct against him, claiming that people are attempting to sabotage his campaign run for U.S. Senate.
