A judge is mulling Los Angeles Unified’s request for dismissal of a lawsuit filed by two women in their 50s who allege they were sexually abused and traumatized in the 1980s by a now-deceased teacher who was profiled while a fugitive on “America’s Most Wanted.”
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Judge Gary D. Roberts heard arguments on the district’s dismissal motion on Monday, then took the case under submission. The plaintiffs are identified only as Jane L.N. Doe, 53, and Jane Y.M. Doe, 54, in the negligence suit that seeks unspecified damages stemming from the alleged misconduct of the late Don Ray Moore, who was sentenced in July 1991 to 14 years in prison at age 57 for the abuses of several girls.
Trial of the case is scheduled June 1, assuming the judge allows the case to proceed. In their dismissal motion, the LAUSD attorneys contend the plaintiffs’ negligence causes of action are barred because the women cannot prove the district knew or should have known of Moore’s alleged propensity to sexually abuse students. The defense attorneys also maintain that the LAUSD is not liable for any off-campus molestations.
The women additionally cannot show that the district failed to show “ordinary prudence” in its supervision of the plaintiffs, nor can they demonstrate that the LAUSD had actual knowledge of any child abuse and then failed to report the misconduct, according to the LAUSD attorneys’ court papers.
According to their lawsuit, Moore threatened both Does with punishment if they spoke up about the alleged abuses and the plaintiffs did not fully realize until 2023 the psychological damage they suffered.
Jane Y.M. Doe further alleges that she felt vulnerable “given the power dynamic between her and Mr. Moore.”
Moore allegedly stayed in a Ventura River homeless encampment for a year to escape prosecution and was captured in Ventura in 1990 on a tip from an “America’s Most Wanted” viewer. The lawsuit is unclear on whether the plaintiffs were among the victims in the criminal complaint. Moore died in December 2012.
The plaintiffs were 10 years old and in the sixth grade at 97th Street Elementary School — now known as Charles W. Barrett Elementary School — when they met Moore, the suit states. Moore allegedly began grooming them and other young students in preparation for abusing them.