Virginia Mcmartin During the Mcmartin Preschool Trial

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Virginia McMartin during the McMartin preschool trial

TheMcMartin preschool trialwas aday caresexual abuse case of the 1980s, prosecuted by the Los Angeles District Attorney Ira Reiner. Members of the McMartin family, who operated apreschoolinCalifornia, were charged with numerous acts ofsexual abuseof children in their care. Accusations were made in 1983. Arrests and the pretrial investigation ran from 1984 to 1987, and the trial ran from 1987 to 1990. After six years of criminal trials, no convictions were obtained, and all charges were dropped in 1990. When the trial ended in 1990 it had been the longest and most expensivecriminal trialin American history.[1]The case was part ofday-care sex-abuse hysteria, amoral panicover allegedSatanic ritual abusein the 1980s and early 1990s.

Contents

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1Initial allegations
2Interviewing and examining the children
3Bizarre allegations
4Trial
4.1Perjury by confession witness
4.2Acquittal and dismissal
5Media coverage
6Legacy
6.1People
6.2Legal
6.3Continued allegations of secret tunnels
6.4Effects on child abuse research
7See also
8Footnotes
9References
10Further reading
11External links

Initial allegations[edit]

In 1983, Judy Johnson, mother of one of theManhattan Beach,California, preschool's young students, reported to the police that her son had beensodomizedby her estranged husband and by McMartin teacher Ray Buckey.[2][3]Ray Buckey was the grandson of school founder Virginia McMartin and son of administrator Peggy McMartinBuckey. Johnson's belief that her son had been abused began when her son had painfulbowel movements. What happened next is still disputed. Some sources state that at that time, Johnson's son denied her suggestion that his preschool teachers had molested him, whereas others say he confirmed the abuse.[2][4]

In addition, Johnson also made several more accusations, including that people at the daycare had sexual encounters with animals, that "Peggy drilled a child under the arms" and "Ray flew in the air."[1][5]Ray Buckey was questioned, but was not prosecuted due to lack of evidence. The police then sent aform letterto about 200 parents of students at the McMartinschool, stating that their children might have been abused, and asking the parents to question their children. The text of the letter read:[2]

September 8, 1983. Dear Parent: This Department is conducting a criminal investigation involving child molestation (288 P.C.) Ray Buckey, an employee of Virginia McMartin's Pre-School, was arrested September 7, 1983 by this Department. The following procedure is obviously an unpleasant one, but to protect the rights of your children as well as the rights of the accused, this inquiry is necessary for a complete investigation. Records indicate that your child has been or is currently a student at the pre-school. We are asking your assistance in this continuing investigation. Please question your child to see if he or she has been a witness to any crime or if he or she has been a victim. Our investigation indicates that possible criminal acts include: oral sex, fondling of genitals, buttock or chest area, and sodomy, possibly committed under the pretense of "taking the child's temperature." Also photos may have been taken of children without their clothing. Any information from your child regarding having ever observed Ray Buckey to leave a classroom alone with a child during any nap period, or if they have ever observed Ray Buckey tie up a child, is important. Please complete the enclosed information form and return it to this Department in the enclosed stamped return envelope as soon as possible. We will contact you if circumstances dictate same. We ask you to please keep this investigation strictly confidential because of the nature of the charges and the highly emotional effect it could have on our community. Please do not discuss this investigation with anyone outside your immediate family. Do not contact or discuss the investigation with Raymond Buckey, any member of the accused defendant's family, or employees connected with the McMartin Pre-School.[6]

Johnson was diagnosed with and hospitalized for acuteparanoid schizophrenia[3][7][8][9]and in 1986 was found dead in her home from complications ofchronic alcoholism[2][10]before thepreliminary hearingconcluded.[11]

Interviewing and examining the children[edit]

Several hundred children were then interviewed by theChildren's Institute International(CII), aLos Angelesabuse therapy clinic run byKee MacFarlane. The interviewing techniques used during investigations of the allegations were highly suggestive and invited children to pretend or speculate about supposed events.[12][13]By spring of 1984, it was claimed that 360 children had been abused.[1][7][14]Astrid HeppenstallHegerperformed medical examinations and took photos of what she believed to be minute scarring, which she stated was caused by anal penetration. Journalist John Earl believed that her findings were based on unsubstantiated medical histories.[15]Later research demonstrated that the methods of questioning used on the children were extremelysuggestive, leading to false accusations.[12]Others believe that the questioning itself may have led tofalse memory syndromeamong the children who were questioned.[2][4]Ultimately only 41 of the original 360 children testified during the grand jury and pre-trial hearings, and fewer than a dozen testified during the actual trial.[16]

Videotapes of the interviews with children were reviewed by Dr.Michael Maloney, a Britishclinical psychologistand professor of psychiatry, as an expert witness regarding the interviewing of children. Maloney was highly critical of the interviewing techniques used, referring to them as improper, coercive, directive, problematic, adult-directed in a way that forced the children to follow a rigid script and that "many of the kids' statements in the interviews were generated by the examiner."[17]Transcripts and recordings of the interviews contained far more speech from adults than children and demonstrated that, despite the highly coercive interviewing techniques used, initially the children were resistant to interviewers' attempts to elicit disclosures. Recordings of these interviews were instrumental in the jury's refusal to convict, by demonstrating how children could be coerced to giving vivid and dramatic testimonies without having experienced the abuse.[18]The techniques used were contrary to the existing guidelines in California for the investigation of cases involving children and child witnesses.[19]

Bizarre allegations[edit]

Some of the accusations were described as "bizarre",[5]overlapping with accusations that mirrored the just-startingSatanic ritual abusepanic.[4]It was alleged that, in addition to having been sexually abused, they sawwitchesfly, traveled in ahot-air balloon, and were taken through underground tunnels.[4]When shown a series of photographs by Danny Davis (the McMartins' lawyer), one child identified actorChuck Norrisas one of the abusers.[20]

Some of the abuse was alleged to have occurred in secret tunnels beneath the school. Several investigations turned up evidence of old buildings on the site and other debris from before the school was built, but no evidence of any secret chambers was found.[4]There were claims oforgiesat car washes and airports, and of children being flushed down toilets to secret rooms where they would be abused, then cleaned up and presented back to their unsuspecting parents. Some interviewed children talked of a game called "Naked Movie Star" suggesting they were forcibly photographed nude.[1][4][21]During the trial, testimony from the children stated that the naked movie star game was actually a rhyming taunt used to tease other children—"What you say is what you are, you're a naked movie star,"—and had nothing to do with having naked pictures taken.[4]

Johnson, who made the initial allegations, made bizarre and impossible statements about Raymond Buckey, including that he could fly.[1]Though the prosecution asserted Johnson's mental illness was caused by the events of the trial, Johnson had admitted to them that she was mentally ill beforehand. Evidence of Johnson'smental illnesswas withheld from the defense for three years and, when provided, was in the form of sanitized reports that excluded Johnson's statements, at the order of the prosecution.[22]One of the original prosecutors, Glenn Stevens, left the case and stated that other prosecutors had withheld evidence from the defense, including the information that Johnson's son did not actually identify Ray Buckey in a series of photographs. Stevens also accusedRobert Philibosian, the deputydistrict attorneyon the case, of lying and withholding evidence from the court and defense lawyers in order to keep the Buckeys in jail and prevent access to exonerating evidence.[23]

Trial[edit]

On March 22, 1984, Virginia McMartin, Peggy McMartinBuckey, Ray Buckey, Ray's sister Peggy Ann Buckey and teachers Mary Ann Jackson, Betty Raidor, and Babette Spitler were charged with 115 counts of child abuse, later expanded to 321 counts of child abuse involving 48 children.[1]In the 20 months of preliminary hearings, the prosecution, led by attorney Lael Rubin, presented their theory ofsexual abuse. The children's testimony during the preliminary hearings was inconsistent.[24]Michelle Smith andLawrence Pazder, co-authors of the now-discreditedSatanic ritual abuseautobiographyMichelle Remembers, met with the parents and children involved in the trial,[25]and were believed by the initial prosecutor Glenn Stevens to have influenced the children's testimony.[26]In 1986, a new district attorney called the evidence "incredibly weak," and dropped all charges against Virginia McMartin, Peggy Ann Buckey, Mary Ann Jackson, Betty Raidor and Babette Spitler. Peggy McMartinBuckey and Ray Buckey remained in custody awaiting trial; Peggy McMartin's bail had been set at $1 million and Ray Buckey had been denied bail.[9]

In 1989, Peggy Anne Buckey's appeal to have her teaching credentials re-instated after their suspension was granted. The judge ruled that there was no credible evidence or corroboration to lead to the license being suspended, and that a review of the videotaped interviews with McMartinchildren "reveal[ed] a pronounced absence of any evidence implicating [Peggy Ann] in any wrongdoing and...raises additional doubts of credibility with respect to the children interviewed or with respect to the value of CII interviewing techniques themselves." The following day the credentialling board of Sacramento endorsed the ruling and restored Buckey's right to teach.[27]

Perjury by confession witness[edit]

During the trial, George Freeman was called as a witness and testified that Ray Buckey had confessed to him while sharing a cell. Freeman later attempted to flee the country and confessed toperjuryin a series of other criminal cases in which he manufactured testimony in exchange for favorable treatment by the prosecution in other cases, in several instances fabricatingjailhouse confessionsof other inmates. In order to guarantee his testimony during the McMartin case, Freeman was given immunity to previous charges of perjury.

Acquittal and dismissal[edit]

In 1990, after three years of testimony and nine weeks of deliberation by the jury, Peggy McMartinBuckey was acquitted on all counts.[9]Ray Buckey was cleared on 52 of 65 counts, and freed on bail after more than five years in jail. Nine of 11 jurors at a press conference following the trial stated that they believed the children had been molested but the evidence did not allow them to state who had committed the abuse beyond a reasonable doubt.[28]Eleven out of the thirteen jurors who remained by the end of the trial voted to acquit Buckey of the charges; the refusal of the remaining two to vote for a not guilty verdict resulted in the deadlock. The media overwhelmingly focused on the two jurors who voted guilty at the expense of those who believed Buckey was not guilty.[29]Buckey was retried later on six of the 13 counts, which produced anotherhung jury. The prosecution then gave up trying to obtain a conviction, and the case was closed with all charges against Ray Buckey dismissed. He had been jailed for five years without ever being convicted of any wrongdoing.[2][21][30]

Media coverage[edit]

The media coverage was generally skewed towards an uncritical acceptance of the prosecution's viewpoint.[4]David Shawof theLos Angeles Timeswrote a series of articles, which later won thePulitzer Prize, discussing the flawed and skewed coverage presented by his own paper on the trial.[31]It was only after the trial that coverage of the flaws in the evidence and events presented by witnesses and the prosecution were discussed.[4]

Wayne Satz, at the time a reporter for the Los Angeles ABC affiliate television stationKABC, reported on the case and the children's allegations. He presented an unchallenged view of the children's and parents' claims.[32]Satz later entered into a romantic relationship withKee MacFarlane, the social worker at theChildren's Institute International, who was interviewing the children.[32]Another instance of media conflict of interest occurred when David Rosenzweig, the editor at theLos Angeles Timesoverseeing the coverage, became engaged to marry Lael Rubin, the prosecutor.[1]

Legacy[edit]

The trial lasted seven years and cost $15 million,[33]the longest and most expensive criminal case in the history of the United States legal system, and ultimately resulted in no convictions.[1][3][21]The McMartin preschool was closed and the building was dismantled; several of the accused have since died. In 2005, one of the children (as an adult) retracted the allegations of abuse.[16][34]

Never did anyone do anything to me, and I never saw them doing anything. I said a lot of things that didn't happen. I lied. ... Anytime I would give them an answer that they didn't like, they would ask again and encourage me to give them the answer they were looking for. ... I felt uncomfortable and a little ashamed that I was being dishonest. But at the same time, being the type of person I was, whatever my parents wanted me to do, I would do.[16]

InThe Devil in The Nursery, Margaret Talbot forThe New York Timessummarized the case:

When you once believed something that now strikes you as absurd, even unhinged, it can be almost impossible to summon that feeling of credulity again. Maybe that is why it is easier for most of us to forget, rather than to try and explain, the Satanic-abuse scare that gripped this country in the early 80's — the myth that Devil-worshipers had set up shop in our day-care centers, where their clever adepts were raping and sodomizing children, practicing ritual sacrifice, shedding their clothes, drinking blood and eating feces, all unnoticed by parents, neighbors and the authorities.[3]

Mary A. Fischer in an article inLos Angelesmagazine said the case was "simply invented," and transmogrified into a nationalcause celebreby the misplaced zeal of six people: Judy Johnson, mentally ill mother who died of alcoholism; Jane Hoag, the detective who investigated the complaints;Kee MacFarlane, the social worker who interviewed the children;Robert Philibosian, the district attorney who was in a losing battle for re-election;Wayne Satz, the television reporter who first reported the case, and Lael Rubin, the prosecutor.[1]

People[edit]

Virginia McMartin (1907-1995)[35]
Peggy McMartinBuckey (1926-2000)[36]

Legal[edit]

In many states, laws were passed allowing children to testify on closed-circuit TV so the children would not be traumatized by facing the accused. The arrangement was supported inMaryland v. Craig, in which theUnited States Supreme Courtruled that closed circuit testimony was permissible where it was limited to circumstances with a likelihood that a minor may be harmed by testifying in open court. The case also influenced how very young children were questioned for evidence in court cases with concerns over their capacity for suggestibility andfalse memories. The case and others like it also impacted the investigation of allegations that included young children. Normal police procedure is to record using video, tape or notes in interviews with alleged victims. The initial interviews with children by the CII were recorded, and demonstrated to the jury members in the trial the coercive and suggestive techniques used by CII staff to produce allegations.

These interviews were instrumental in the jury members failing to produce a guilty verdict against Buckey, and several similar trials with similar interviewing techniques produced similar not-guilty verdicts when juries were allowed to view the recordings. These records ended up being extremely valuable to the defense in similar cases. In response, prosecutors and investigators began "abandoning their tape recorders and notepads" and a manual was produced for investigating child abuse cases that urged prosecutors and investigators not to record their interviews.[37]

Continued allegations of secret tunnels[edit]

In 1990, parents who believed their children had been abused at the preschool hired archeologist E. Gary Stickel to investigate the site. In May 1990, Stickel claimed he found evidence of tunnels, consistent with the children's accounts, under the McMartin Preschool usingground-penetrating radar.[38]