The same year Little was restricted from trying juvenile cases, Seattle NBC affiliate KING-TV prepared to air a story on Little based on the accounts of four confidential sources who alleged they had been abused by him at the Lakeside School in the 1960s.
In July 1988 KING-TV aired a story about Little's earlier involvement with the Bellevue 14-year-old, after which Little announced he would not seek renewal of his term on the Superior Court, which was expiring that year, and instead depart Washington for California.