--- title: Roy Moore's Alleged Behavior 'Common Knowledge,' Locals Say description: A number of residents of Gadsden, Ala. say Roy Moore's alleged behavior towards teenage girls was 'common knowledge' to locals canonical: https://time.com/5022752/roy-moore-gadsden-alabama/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-14T01:06:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:13:47.156Z article:section: Politics og:title: Alabama Residents Say Roy Moore's Behavior Was 'Common Knowledge' og:description: "These stories have been going around this town for 30 years" og:url: https://time.com/5022752/roy-moore-gadsden-alabama/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cbbf54e43b3f549/6988e5814ee26240a930fc06/roy-moore-alabama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: Roy Moore og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Alabama Residents Say Roy Moore's Behavior Was 'Common Knowledge' twitter:description: "These stories have been going around this town for 30 years" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cbbf54e43b3f549/6988e5814ee26240a930fc06/roy-moore-alabama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Alabama Residents Say Roy Moore's Pursuit of Teenage Girls Was 'Common Knowledge' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Nov 14, 2017 1:06 AM UTC  Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore at the Vestavia Hills Public library on Nov. 11, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala. Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore at the Vestavia Hills Public library on Nov. 11, 2017, in Birmingham, Ala.Brynn Anderson—AP by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Nov 14, 2017 1:06 AM UTC A number of residents of Gadsden, Ala., where GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore grew up and practiced law, say his [alleged behavior towards teenage girls](http://time.com/5021756/roy-moore-alabama-senate-race-fifth-accuser-beverly-young-nelson/) was “common knowledge” to locals. “These stories have been going around this town for 30 years,” Blake Usry, who grew up in Gadsden and lives there currently, [told Al.com.](http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/11/gadsden%5Fresidents%5Fsay%5Fmoores%5Fb.html) “Nobody could believe they hadn’t come out yet.” Moore, 70, has now been accused by five women of [inappropriate advances when he was in his 30s and they were in their teens](http://time.com/5022011/roy-moore-mitch-mcconnell-susan-collins-republicans/). Four were detailed in a Washington _Post_ report last week. On Monday, another woman stepped forward with an allegation against Moore, saying he sexually assaulted her at 16 while she was working at a local restaurant. “Him liking and dating young girls was never a secret in Gadsden when we were all in high school,” Sheryl Porter told 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.” “He watched us girls quite openly,” added Victoria Beverstock, who said she was a 20-year-old waitress in 1992 working at a local restaurant Moore frequently dined at. “His eyes crawled over our shirts and our backsides. He was so open about it that I would try and handle his order as quickly as possible.” Despite the allegations and a number of Republican Senators [urging him to withdraw from the Dec. 12 election](http://time.com/5022231/jeff-flake-roy-moore-democrat-allegations-alabama/), Moore has continued to deny all accusations and said he is pushing on with his race to beat his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones. “I can tell you without hesitation, this is absolutely false,” Moore said Monday of the allegations from the fifth and most recent accuser, Beverly Young Nelson. “I never did what she said I did. I don’t even know the woman. I don’t know anything about her. I don’t even know where the restaurant is or was.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5022752/roy-moore-gadsden-alabama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5022752/roy-moore-gadsden-alabama/"},"headline":"Alabama Residents Say Roy Moore's Pursuit of Teenage Girls Was 'Common Knowledge'","datePublished":"2017-11-14T01:06:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:13:47.156Z","description":"\"These stories have been going around this town for 30 years\"","url":"https://time.com/5022752/roy-moore-gadsden-alabama/","keywords":["Senate","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cbbf54e43b3f549/6988e5814ee26240a930fc06/roy-moore-alabama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4cbbf54e43b3f549/6988e5814ee26240a930fc06/roy-moore-alabama.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Roy Moore","caption":"Roy Moore","creditText":"Brynn Anderson—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/senate/","name":"Senate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5022752/roy-moore-gadsden-alabama/","name":"Alabama Residents Say Roy Moore's Pursuit of Teenage Girls Was 'Common Knowledge'"}}]}] ```