NEW YORK _ A fifth woman has come forward to accuse former Alabama chief justice Roy Moore of inappropriate sexual conduct.
Beverly Young Nelson, 55, said Moore, now a candidate for the U.S. Senate, assaulted her when she was a 16-year-old high school student working as a waitress in Gadsden, Ala.
Nelson said Moore had been a regular customer at the restaurant and often complimented her on her looks and pulled on the ends of her long, red hair.
She said Moore offered to drive her home one night, but instead assaulted her in his car behind the restaurant.
"I thought that he was going to rape me," she said. "I was twisting and I was struggling and I was begging him to stop."
Nelson said he eventually allowed her to open the car door and she either fell out or was pushed out.
This is the first time Nelson is disclosing the allegations publicly, though she said she had previously told her sister, mother and husband about her encounter with Moore.
Nelson's remarks follow a report by The Washington Post last week detailing the accounts of four women who say Moore had sexual or romantic encounters with them when they were minors. One of the women was 14 years old at the time.
Moore's Senate campaign immediately responded to the new allegations, insisting again that all of the reports are unfounded.
"Gloria Allred is a sensationalist leading a witch hunt, and she is only around to create a spectacle. Allred was the attorney who claims credit for giving us Roe v. Wade which has resulted in the murder of tens of millions of unborn babies," campaign chairman Bill Armistead said in a statement.
"We've said this before and we'll say it again: Judge Moore is an innocent man and has never had any sexual misconduct with anyone. This is a witch hunt against a man who has had an impeccable career for over 30 years and has always been known as a man of high character."
Moore has refused to quit the campaign despite mounting political pressure, most recently from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
