You may have thought that Republicans had sunk as low as they could possibly go last year when they nominated for the presidency a man who was singularly unfit, morally and mentally, for that post. But, no, once you start racing to the bottom you never quite stop. There is always another level of degeneracy to be plumbed.

Enter Roy Moore, the Republican Senate candidate in Alabama. He believes that “homosexual conduct should be illegal” and that Muslims should not be permitted to serve in Congress. Now the Washington Post reports that this fearless crusader for “traditional values” had a habit of propositioning underage girls.

In one case in 1979, when he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney, the Post reports, Moore allegedly offered to watch a “little girl” outside a courthouse for her mother. He subsequently took advantage of this entree to kiss and fondle this 14-year-old after undressing both of them down to their underwear. The statute of limitations has expired on this sordid episode, but under Alabama law it would constitute sexual abuse in the second degree and be punishable by up to a year in prison.