Lawsuit alleges NC House Speaker had affair, sex with people seeking political favor

RALEIGH — A detailed lawsuit filed by a former Apex City Councilman claims that North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland County) started an affair with his wife and engaged in group sex with other people seeking political favor.

Scott Riley Lassiter is suing Moore and an unnamed John Doe defendant for several claims, including alienation of affections and civil conspiracy.

Channel 9 obtained the court documents, which allege that Moore “used his position as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives to initiate contact and develop a personal relationship with Mrs. Lassiter, despite knowing that she was married to Plaintiff.”

The suit says Lassiter’s spouse worked in the state government, and she had known the Republican Speaker for years. Jamie Liles Lassiter is currently the executive director of the North Carolina Conference of Clerks of Superior Court.

The lawsuit says Lassiter heard rumors that his wife was having an affair with Moore. On Dec. 21, 2022, Lassiter surveilled his wife after she said she was going to see a movie with a friend, and he found that she went to dinner with Moore at a steakhouse in Raleigh. The court documents say Lassiter found that his wife and Moore went to Moore’s home in Raleigh and spent hours together. Lassiter says he believed that Moore and his wife had sex.

The lawsuit included a picture of Mrs. Lassiter and Moore outside of the Raleigh steakhouse.

According to the lawsuit, Lassiter’s wife allegedly admitted to the extramarital affair when she was confronted in the early morning hours of Dec. 22.

The lawsuit says Lassiter’s wife confessed she had been having an affair for three years, and that “she had engaged in sexual activity with Defendant Tim Moore (including group sex with other individuals seeking Tim Moore’s political favor), and that she feared ending the relationship with [Moore] would result in losing her job.”

Court documents say Lassiter then asked to speak with Moore to confront him about the affair. On Dec. 26, Lassiter met with Moore at a Biscuitville in Raleigh, and Moore admitted to having a multi-year sexual relationship with Mrs. Lassiter. According to the lawsuit, Moore asked Lassiter at the end of the meeting, “if there was anything he could do for Plaintiff, implying that he could use the power he held as Speaker in some way to benefit Plaintiff.”

According to the lawsuit, the Lassiters tried therapeutic counseling but ultimately decided to separate because Mrs. Lassiter couldn’t end her relationship with Moore.

The lawsuit also claims that an unnamed man installed a camera on Lassiter’s property to record video. Lassiter claims that “Moore, either personally or through an agent authorized to act on his behalf, requested that Defendant John Doe unlawfully enter upon [Lassiter’s] real property and place a motion-activated camera ... to capture photos and videos of [Lassiter] that [Moore] could use to persuade [Lassiter] not to pursue any of the valid legal claims against him.”

Channel 9 has reached out to Moore’s office for a comment on the lawsuit, but we haven’t received a response yet.

Moore’s attorney did send a statement to WRAL in Raleigh, saying that the claims were false.

“I look forward to meeting Mr. Lassiter in the courtroom. We are confident the Speaker will be vindicated,” Moore’s attorney told WRAL.

Lassiter’s wife also sent a statement to WRAL, saying that Moore isn’t to blame.

“The claims are not only false but impossible as we’ve been separated with a signed separation document for years,” she said to WRAL. “Our marriage was a nightmare, and since I left him it has gotten worse. We are reaching the end of our divorce process and this is how he’s lashing out.”

Lassiter is suing for over $200,000 in damages.

Alienation of Affection:

North Carolina is one of six states where an alienation of affection lawsuit can be filed.

“This case, in particular, is quite fascinating,” David Simmons, a senior attorney with Sodoma Law, said.  

Sodoma Law isn’t involved in Moore’s case but handles alienation of affection cases often.

“You would look to prove you have a marriage with genuine love and affection,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be perfect but just a marriage with love and affection, the love and affection was destroyed and it was destroyed because of the malicious acts of a third party.”

Simmons says that even if a separation document was signed, it doesn’t necessarily change things.

“As far as proving the acts of a third party have caused that marriage to no longer exist, you are still going to have those questions even if the separation agreement has been executed,” he said.

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