An adult woman who alleged she was sexually abused by her high school English teacher and that he provided her with alcohol and drugs has settled her lawsuit with the Los Angeles Unified School District, according to a court clerical notice filed Tuesday.
The woman identified only as Jane Doe was 29 years old when she brought her suit in Los Angeles Superior Court in April 2021 against the district and her former teacher, Barry Smolin, who was married and had children. The case was later transferred to Santa Monica Superior Court and Doe's attorneys dropped Smolin as a defendant in July 2023.
The notice did not divulge the terms of the accord. Lisa K Sepe- Wiesenfeld signed an order canceling all further dates in the case.
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According to Doe's suit, Smolin began grooming her as a freshman at Hamilton High School during the 2006-07 school year, in part by giving her a copy of a CD of music he made.
During Doe's sophomore year, Smolin allegedly told Doe that he adored her and that hugs between the two were "mandatory." The alleged grooming continued during Doe's junior year and the sexual abuse began when she was a senior in the 2009-10 school year, her suit stated.
"In fact, on one occasion while Smolin was sexually abusing plaintiff, another teacher walked in and Smolin literally threw plaintiff off of him and onto the seat next to him," Doe's suit stated.
Smolin also provided Doe with alcohol as a way in order to entice her to continue having an inappropriate relationship with him and he also gave her drugs, including marijuana, her suit filed in April 2021 alleged.
Smolin additionally gave Doe $300 to buy LSD, telling her she could sell it for a profit, according to her suit, which further stated she has suffered humiliation and emotional distress due to the alleged abuses.
In a sworn declaration, Smolin's wife, Jill Smolin, said she "never knew or even suspected that my husband was in a relationship with any of his students. I never had any knowledge of my husband's alleged relationship with plaintiff until this lawsuit was filed and, more specifically, when plaintiff issued a press release."
Smolin's daughter, Phoebe Smolin, said in her own declaration that she attended Hamilton High at the same time as the plaintiff and that they had many of the same friends. Like her mother, she said she knew nothing about her father's alleged relationship with Doe until the lawsuit was brought.
But according to the plaintiff's attorneys' court papers, a former Hamilton High student testified he went to Smolin's house during his sophomore year and Phoebe Smolin "told him that her dad was doing stuff that made her uncomfortable" regarding "how close of a relationship he seemed to have with one of his current female students, who was in the same grade as Phoebe."
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