Birmingham, ALABAMA — A minister who says that he dated Beverly Young Nelson at around the same time that Young claims to have been assaulted by senatorial candidate Roy Moore says that he does not believe his ex-girlfriend about the allegations.
The former boyfriend, Jeff DeVine, attended high school with Young and is currently in Thailand, where he runs DeVine Ministries with his wife and twin daughters. He says that as part of his ministry, which focuses on rescuing children, he has worked with victims of rape and other trauma.
A high school classmate of Nelson’s who spoke to Breitbart News remembers DeVine and Nelson briefly dating around 1977. DeVine also provided a copy of his high school yearbook inscribed with a lengthy message by Nelson. The inscription was signed by “Beverly Young,” using Nelson’s maiden name.
DeVine’s comments mark the second time a person who has known Nelson has gone public to call her allegations against Moore into question. Last week, Nelson’s stepson, Darrel Nelson, claimed in a Breitbart News interview that his stepmother’s accusations are “one hundred percent a lie.”
Beverly Young Nelson, 55, gave a press conference last week at which she claimed that Moore sexually assaulted her in a car in December 1977 or early January 1978 when she was a 16-year-old high school student. Nelson said the alleged assault took place outside a restaurant in Gadsden, Ala., where she says that she worked as a waitress. Nelson is being represented by controversial attorney and women’s rights advocate Gloria Allred.
Asked about the allegations, DeVine stated, “No, I don’t believe it.”
DeVine, speaking to Breitbart News from Thailand via Skype, said that his estimation was “based off just my experience with people,” and not any specific evidence that Nelson was being dishonest.
Jeff Devine (Courtesy)
“I certainly wouldn’t qualify as an expert, but I have been in ministry for many years,” he related. “I have dealt with a lot of people. People that have been through trauma. People that have been molested or hurt and all kinds of situations.”