A high-stakes Los Angeles civil trial is on the calendar for June 1, 2026, over claims that a former Los Angeles Unified School District teacher sexually abused students in the early 1980s. LAUSD, however, is pushing to get the case tossed before a jury ever hears it and wants to keep certain personnel records out of evidence, arguing they were lawfully destroyed. The lawsuit, brought by two women who say they were sixth-graders when the abuse occurred, turns on what school officials knew or should have known about the teacher and on disputed documents that could show what administrators were told. The outcome could influence how schools and courts handle decades-old abuse allegations when key records are long gone.
In court filings submitted this week, LAUSD attorneys asked a judge to bar evidence that the district destroyed the teacher’s employee relations file and lodged multiple pretrial motions to narrow what the plaintiffs can present. The district argues that the file "was permissibly destroyed pursuant to state law and the district’s controlling records retention and destruction policy" and that it had no obligation to adopt policies that were not required by statute more than 40 years ago. As reported by MyNewsLA, the district is asking the judge to exclude any suggestion of spoliation and several other categories of evidence.
The plaintiffs in the negligence suit are identified as Jane L.N. Doe, 53, and Jane Y.M. Doe, 54, who say they were 10 years old and in sixth grade at 97th Street Elementary, now Charles W. Barrett Elementary, when teacher Don Ray Moore began grooming and abusing them. Their complaint, filed in June 2024, alleges school administrators ran a "sham investigation," then moved Moore into a nonteaching role, put him on unpaid leave and eventually fired him. The women say they did not fully recognize the psychological harm they suffered until 2023. Those allegations were detailed by KNX News.
Moore vanished from public view in 1987 just as criminal charges were about to be filed and was later discovered living in a Ventura River homeless encampment after a viewer of the television show "America’s Most Wanted" recognized him and alerted authorities. He pleaded guilty and in July 1991 was sentenced to 14 years in prison for lewd acts and other molestation counts, according to contemporaneous reporting by the Los Angeles Times. The civil lawsuit does not specify whether the two plaintiffs were among the victims listed in the original criminal case.
Judge Gary D. Roberts is scheduled to hear LAUSD’s dismissal motion on May 18, then decide whether the case will proceed to a jury. The civil trial is set for June 1 if the motion is denied. In its filings, the district contends the plaintiffs cannot show that LAUSD knew or should have known about Moore’s alleged propensity to abuse students and argues the district is not liable for alleged off-campus conduct. As outlined by MyNewsLA, LAUSD is also seeking to exclude evidence it characterizes as irrelevant or unfairly prejudicial.
Legal Implications For Records And Delayed Reporting
The case highlights familiar legal pressure points. The plaintiffs must show that school officials either knew about abuse or were negligent in supervising Moore, while the district leans on technical defenses about records retention rules, notice, and what its duties were decades ago. The suit also relies on delayed-recognition claims, with the women asserting they only fully understood the psychological impact in 2023, a factor that can affect civil statutes of limitations. Those legal contours and the complaint’s timeline were described in coverage by KNX News.
If the judge grants dismissal or excludes key evidence, the plaintiffs’ negligence claims could be sharply limited. If the case moves ahead, jurors will be asked to weigh allegations from the early 1980s against whatever documents and testimony remain. The May 18 hearing now stands as the next public test in a lawsuit that links historic abuse claims with current debates over accountability and recordkeeping in public schools.
