A judge has ordered Los Angeles Unified to turn over yearbooks to attorneys for a man, now an adult, who alleges he was sexually molested by his music instructor at Hamilton Music Academy in 1998-2002 on campus as well as in the teacher’s car.
In his Friday ruling, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kerry Bensinger rejected the LAUSD’s concerns for student privacy, saying they gave it up when they consented to having their names and photos published in the yearbooks. He said plaintiff John M.E.L. Doe’s lawyers are entitled to the yearbooks from 1993 to the 1996-97 school year.
“LAUSD does not identify any other reason why a yearbook itself should not be produced,” the judge wrote.
The suit alleges that the LAUSD and school administrators failed to investigate Miller’s alleged improper interactions with students for more than 17 years. Doe alleges he was abused from 1998 to 2002. His attorneys maintained the yearbooks were needed to identify students who had access to Miller before be allegedly abused the plaintiff and who also may have witnesses the teacher’s alleged misconduct.
The plaintiff’s lawyers also maintained they wanted the information to bolster their belief the district knew or should have known that Miller molested other students before Doe.
In 2017, the district reached a settlement in the consolidated lawsuits of several former students who alleged they were sexually molested by Miller while attending Hamilton High’s music magnet program. He taught at Loyola Performance Arts Magnet for 15 years prior to Hamilton.
Miller was selected as Southern California’s Outstanding Music Educator of the Year in 2010.