--- title: Alabama Republican Cites Jesus and Mary to Defend Roy Moore description: The Alabama Senate candidate has been accused of initiating sexual contact with a 14-year-old when he was in his 30s canonical: https://time.com/5017940/roy-moore-sexual-contact-underage-jesus-defense-jim-ziegler/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-09T22:00:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:06.407Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'Mary Was a Teenager.' Alabama Republican Uses Jesus to Defend Roy Moore og:description: A woman has said Moore initiated sexual contact with her when she was 14 og:url: https://time.com/5017940/roy-moore-sexual-contact-underage-jesus-defense-jim-ziegler/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt608b5830adf15590/6988e54fe76ad2cead62fe74/roy-moore-alabama-senate-republican-sexual-contact-girls.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump, Conservative Leaders Address Value Voters Summit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Mary Was a Teenager.' Alabama Republican Uses Jesus to Defend Roy Moore twitter:description: A woman has said Moore initiated sexual contact with her when she was 14 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt608b5830adf15590/6988e54fe76ad2cead62fe74/roy-moore-alabama-senate-republican-sexual-contact-girls.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Mary Was a Teenager.' Alabama Republican Uses Jesus to Defend Roy Moore > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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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. ## Video: Roy Moore Has Won the Alabama GOP Primary Runoff [Watch (HLS stream): Roy Moore Has Won the Alabama GOP Primary Runoff](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7eIX6cvP.m3u8) (1:35)  _Published 2017-09-27. Firebrand jurist Roy Moore won the Alabama Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, defeating an appointed incumbent backed by President Donald Trump and allies of Sen. Mitch McConnell._ by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Nov 9, 2017 10:00 PM UTC  Roy Moore, GOP Senate candidate and former chief justice on the Alabama Supreme Court speaks during the annual Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit at the Omni Shorham Hotel on Oct. 13, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Roy Moore, GOP Senate candidate and former chief justice on the Alabama Supreme Court speaks during the annual Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit at the Omni Shorham Hotel on Oct. 13, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Nov 9, 2017 10:00 PM UTC While some Republicans at the national level [spoke out against](http://time.com/5017647/mitch-mcconnell-roy-moore-alabama-senate/?xid=homepage) Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore on Thursday in the wake of [allegations that he initiated sexual contact](http://time.com/5017542/roy-moore-sexual-contact-underage-senate/?xid=homepage) with a 14-year-old when he was in his 30s, Republicans from his own state seemed to have a different view — with one citing Jesus’ parents to defend Moore’s alleged behavior. “Take Joseph and Mary. Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus,” Alabama state auditor Jim Ziegler told the [_Washington Examiner_](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/alabama-state-auditor-defends-roy-moore-against-sexual-allegations-invokes-mary-and-joseph/article/2640217) on Thursday. Four women have told [the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/woman-says-roy-moore-initiated-sexual-encounter-when-she-was-14-he-was-32/2017/11/09/1f495878-c293-11e7-afe9-4f60b5a6c4a0%5Fstory.html?tid=ss%5Ftw&utm%5Fterm=.2b0992168a8a) that Moore pursued relationships with them when they were teenagers and he was an adult. The women were between the ages of 14 and 18, while Moore was in his 30s at the time, according to the _Post_. Leigh Corfman, the woman who was 14 when she says Moore approached her, told the _Post_ that Moore touched her over her bra and underwear and guided her hand to his underwear. The other three women did not have sexual contact that went beyond kissing. Moore denied the allegations on Thursday, saying they are “completely false” and a “desperate political attack.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Moore must step aside if the allegations are true, and [Sen. John McCain went further](https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/status/928709913953624066), calling on Moore to “immediately step aside.” Ziegler, on the other hand, said the allegations were “much ado about nothing.” “There is nothing to see here,” the Alabama official told the _Examiner_. “The allegations are that a man in his early 30s dated teenage girls. Even the Washington _Post_ report says that he never had sexual intercourse with any of the girls and never attempted sexual intercourse.” In his comments on the incident, Ziegler focused on the fact that the report said Moore had not had sex with the girl and that the relationship happened decades ago. He also pointed to the fact that Moore’s wife is younger than him and the pair began dating shortly after the incidents detailed in the _Post_ report. “There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here,” Ziegler added, according to the _Examiner_. “Maybe just a little bit unusual.” Another home state Republican, Alabama’s Secretary of State John Merrill, also downplayed the allegations against Moore. He [told ThinkProgress](https://thinkprogress.org/republicans-options-replace-roy-moore-a4dc39775bf6/) on Thursday that Moore’s name would still be on the ballot for Alabama’s special election Dec. 12 and questioned whether the allegations were true at all. “People make things up all the time,” Merrill told the website. “Do I think it’s possible they made this up? 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