Teacher Withdraws Guilty Pleas in Molestations
A former elementary school teacher on Tuesday withdrew his guilty pleas to charges he molested four of his fifth-grade students in the early 1980s and will now face trial.
Donald Ray Moore, who taught for 16 years at 97th Street Elementary School in South-Central Los Angeles, pleaded guilty Aug. 22 before Municipal Court Judge Elva Soper to four felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14. The plea-bargain Moore struck called for dismissal of 17 other molestation counts and a 12-year prison sentence. The case was then sent to Superior Court Judge Michael Hoff for sentencing.
But last Wednesday, Hoff declined to go along with the plea bargain, indicating that Moore deserved a harsher sentence.
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