A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by two women who alleged they were sexually abused and traumatized in the 1980s by a now-deceased Los Angeles Unified teacher who was profiled while a fugitive on “America’s Most Wanted.”
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gary Roberts heard arguments on the district’s dismissal motion last Monday, then took the case under submission and ruled on Friday. He said he would have a detailed ruling in the coming week. 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 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 abuse of several girls.
In their dismissal motion, the LAUSD attorneys contended that the plaintiffs’ negligence causes of action were barred because the women could not prove the district knew or should have known of Moore’s alleged propensity to sexually abuse students. The defense attorneys also maintained that the LAUSD is not liable for any off-campus molestations.
The women additionally could not show that the district failed to show “ordinary prudence” in its supervision of the plaintiffs, nor could 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.
The plaintiffs alleged in their lawsuit filed in June 2024 that Moore threatened both Does with punishment if they spoke up about the alleged abuses, and that they did not fully realize until 2023 the psychological damage they suffered.
Jane Y.M. Doe further alleged 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 stated. Moore allegedly began grooming them and other young students in preparation for abusing them.