McMartin preschool trial
The McMartin preschool trial was a
Initial allegations
In 1983, Judy Johnson, mother of one of the preschool's young students, reported to the police that her son had been sodomized by her estranged husband and also by McMartin teacher Ray Buckey.[4][5] Buckey was the grandson of school founder Virginia McMartin and son of administrator Peggy McMartin Buckey. Johnson's belief that her son had been abused began when her son had painful bowel 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.[4][6]
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."[2][7] Buckey was questioned, but was not prosecuted due to lack of evidence. The police then sent a form letter to about 200 parents of students at the McMartin school, stating that their children might have been abused, and asking the parents to question their children. The text of the letter read:[4]
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.
THERE IS NO EVIDENCE TO INDICATED THAT THE MANAGEMENT OF VIRGINIA MCMARTIN'S PRE-SCHOOL HAD ANY KNOWLEDGE OF THIS SITUATION AND NO DETRIMENTAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THE OPERATION OF THE SCHOOL HAS BEEN DISCOVERED DURING THIS INVESTIGATION. ALSO, NO OTHER EMPLOYEE IN THE SCHOOL IS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR ANY CRIMINAL ACT.[8]
Johnson was diagnosed with and hospitalized for acute
Interviewing and examining the children
Several hundred children were then interviewed by the
Michael P. Maloney, a
Bizarre allegations
Some of the accusations were described as "bizarre",
Some of the abuse was alleged to have occurred in secret tunnels beneath the school.
Judy Johnson, who made the initial allegations, made bizarre and impossible statements about Raymond Buckey, including that he could fly.
Trials
Two trials were conducted for the McMartin preschool case. The first lasted from July 13, 1987, to January 18, 1990,[29] while the second lasted from May 7, 1990, to July 27, 1990.[30][31]
Arrests and preliminary hearing
On March 22, 1984, Virginia McMartin, her daughter Peggy McMartin Buckey, her grandchildren Ray and 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.[2]
In the 20 months of preliminary hearings, the prosecution, led by attorney
In 1986, a new district attorney, Ira Reiner, called the evidence "incredibly weak" and dropped all charges against Virginia McMartin, Peggy Ann Buckey, Mary Ann Jackson, Betty Raidor and Babette Spitler.[35] Peggy McMartin Buckey 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.[11]
First trial
The first trial opened on July 13, 1987. During the trial, the prosecution presented seven medical witnesses. The defense attempted to rebut them with several witnesses, but the judge limited them to one in order to save time. In their summation, the prosecution argued that they had seven experts on this issue, when the defense only had one.[23]
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 McMartin children "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 state credentialing board in
Perjury by confession witness
In October 1987, jailhouse informant George Freeman was called as a witness and testified that Ray Buckey had confessed to him while sharing a cell.[37] Freeman later attempted to flee the country and confessed to perjury in a series of other criminal cases in which he manufactured testimony in exchange for favorable treatment by the prosecution, in several instances fabricating jailhouse confessions of other inmates. In order to guarantee his testimony during the McMartin case, Freeman was given immunity to previous charges of perjury.[citation needed]
Acquittals
On January 18, 1990, after three years of testimony and nine weeks of deliberation by the jury, Peggy McMartin Buckey was acquitted on all counts.[11] 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.[38] 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.[39]
Second trial and dismissal
Ray Buckey was retried later on 6 of the 13 counts of which he was not acquitted in the first trial. The second trial opened on May 7, 1990, and resulted in another hung jury on July 27, 1990. 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 committing any crime.[4][26][40]
Media coverage
In 1988, The New York Times reported that the case "attracted national attention when the authorities speculated that hundreds of children might have been molested and subjected to satanic rituals" and "has teetered on the brink of mistrial".[41][42]
The media coverage was generally skewed towards an uncritical acceptance of the prosecution's viewpoint.[6] David Shaw of the Los Angeles Times wrote a series of articles, which later won the Pulitzer Prize,[43] discussing the flawed and skewed coverage presented by his own paper on the trial.[44] It was only after the case that coverage of the flaws in the evidence and events presented by witnesses and the prosecution were discussed.[6]
Legacy
The case lasted seven years and cost $15 million,[46] the longest and most expensive criminal case in the history of the United States legal system, and ultimately resulted in no convictions.[2][5][26] The McMartin preschool was closed and the building was dismantled. In 2005, one of the children (as an adult) retracted the allegations of abuse.[19][47]
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.[19]
In The Devil in The Nursery, Margaret Talbot for The New York Times summarized 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.[5]
In 1990 Peggy, Ray, and Peggy Ann Buckey spoke to the National Association of State Vocal Organizations about their experiences.[48] Peggy Ann and Ray Buckey attended the 1997 "Day of Contrition" conference in Salem, Massachusetts. They were joined by other victims and experts of the day-care sex-abuse hysteria.[49][50]
Legal
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 in
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. 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.[52]
Continued allegations of secret tunnels
In 1990, parents who believed their children had been abused at the preschool hired archaeologist 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 using ground-penetrating radar.[53]
Others have disagreed with Stickel's conclusions. John Earl wrote in 1995 that the concrete slab floor was undisturbed except for a small patch where the sewer line was tapped into. Once the slab was removed, there was no sign of any materials to line or hold up any tunnels, and the concrete floor would have made it impossible for the defendants to fill in any tunnels once the abuse investigation began. The article concluded that disturbed soil under the slab was from the sewer line and construction fill buried under the slab before it was poured. Further, Earl noted that some fill from beneath the concrete slab was dated to the year 1940.[17]
W. Joseph Wyatt's 2002 report concluded that the so-called tunnels under the preschool were more plausibly explained as a series of adjacent rubbish pits used by the owners of the site before the preschool's construction in 1966. Materials found during the excavation included bottles predominantly dated to the 1930s and '40s, as well as tin-can fragments, plywood, inner tubes, professionally-butchered livestock bones, four small containers of trash, and a former owner's old mail box.[54]
Only three small items found near the edge of the concrete slab were dated after 1966. Wyatt suggested one of these – a fragment of a plastic snack bag – was most likely dragged into the pit by rats or other scavengers, just as Stickel himself had suggested likely happened for other debris that did not fit his tunnel theory. The remaining items, per Wyatt, had likely been left by a plumber digging from adjacent to the building to avoid damaging the concrete pad. Moreover, Wyatt speculated that Stickel's conclusions were colored by his collaboration with the parents of the McMartin children.[54]
Effects on child abuse research
Shortly after investigation into the McMartin charges began, the funds to research child sexual abuse greatly increased, notably through the budget allocated for the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN). The agency's budget increased from $1.8 million to $7.2 million between 1983 and 1984, increasing to $15 million in 1985, making it the greatest source of funding for child abuse and neglect prevention in the United States. The majority of this budget went toward studies on sexual abuse with only $5 million going towards physical abuse and neglect.[citation needed]
Federal funding was also used to arrange conferences on ritual abuse, providing an aura of respectability as well as allowing prosecutors to exchange tips on the best means of obtaining convictions. A portion of the funds were used to publish the book Behind the Playground Walls, which used a sample of children drawn from the McMartin families. The book claimed to study the effects of "reported" rather than actual abuse but portrayed all of the McMartin children as actual victims of abuse despite a lack of convictions during the trials and without mentioning questions about the reality of the accusations.[55][56] Another grant of $173,000 went to David Finkelhor who used the funds to investigate allegations of day care sexual abuse throughout the country, combining the study of verified crimes by admitted pedophiles and unverified accusations of satanic ritual abuse.[57]
Media
In 1995, HBO produced Indictment: The McMartin Trial, a movie based on the trials.[58]
In 2019, Oxygen produced Uncovered: The McMartin Family Trials, a documentary about the events.[59]
See also
- Kern County child abuse cases
- Peter Ellis, a similar case in New Zealand
- South Ronaldsay child abuse scandal
- Martensville satanic sex scandal
- The Outreau trial, similar case in France
- Trial by media
- Wee Care Nursery School abuse trial
- Country Walk case
- Wenatchee child abuse prosecutions
- it:Diavoli della Bassa modenese, similar case in Italy
- The Finders (movement)
- Pizzagate conspiracy theory
Footnotes
- ^ Shaw, David (January 19, 1990). "Where Was Skepticism in Media? : Pack journalism and hysteria marked early coverage of the McMartin case". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Robert Reinhold (January 24, 1990). "The Longest Trial – A Post-Mortem. Collapse of Child-Abuse Case: So Much Agony for So Little". The New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2008.
- ^ Mathews, Jay (July 28, 1990). "MCMARTIN PROSECUTION HALTED, ENDING LONGEST CRIMINAL CASE". The Washington Post. Los Angeles. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Katherine Ramsland. "McMartin Daycare Case". Crime Library. Archived from the original on March 31, 2004. Retrieved August 26, 2007.
- ^ a b c d Margaret Talbot (January 7, 2001). "The Lives They Lived: 01-07-01: Peggy McMartin Buckey, b. 1926; The Devil in The Nursery". The New York Times. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87975-809-7.
- ^ a b "Notes from an Interview with Judy Johnson (archived)". University of Missouri–Kansas City. February 15, 1984. Archived from the original on November 5, 2007. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
- ^ "Letter to McMartin Preschool Parents from Police Chief Kuhlmeyer, Jr". University of Missouri–Kansas City. September 8, 1983. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
- ^ a b Snedeker 1995 p. 127
- ^ Wilson, Mike (November 13, 1989). "A Search For Victims Quest Search For The Truth In California Child Abuse Case Has Cost The Taxpayers Six Years, $15 Million". Miami Herald. Retrieved August 21, 2007.
- ^ a b c "Child-Abuse Case Ends In 2 Acquittals Preschool Trial Lasted 32 Months". Miami Herald. January 19, 1990.
- ^ Chambers, Marcia (December 21, 1986). "Sex Case Accuser is Found Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2007.
The woman, Judy Johnson, 42 years old, whose mental stability has been the focus of a pretrial hearing going on in Superior Court here, was found dead Friday afternoon in her home in the affluent, seaside community of Manhattan Beach. The authorities performed an autopsy, but said further toxicological and neurological tests were needed to determine the cause of death.
- ^ Eberle, 1993, p. 32
- ^ S2CID 2322397.
- S2CID 16766571.
- ^ Kee MacFarlane received $146,000 to interview and examine the children.
- ^ a b John Earl (1995). "The Dark Truth About the "Dark Tunnels of McMartin": Section IV:Children's Institute International". Issues in Child Abuse Accusations. 7 (2). Retrieved September 8, 2008.
- ^ "IPT Journal – "Learning From the McMartin Hoax"". www.ipt-forensics.com.
- ^ a b c Zirpolo, K; Nathan D (October 30, 2005). "I'm Sorry; A long-delayed apology from one of the accusers in the notorious McMartin Pre-School molestation case". Los Angeles Times Magazine. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ Eberle, 1993, pp. 243–56
- ^ Snedeker 1995 pp. 140–41
- ^ Snedeker 1995 pp. 145–46
- ^ a b Stires, Lloyd K. (1993). "America's Longest and Costliest Criminal Trial". Skeptical Inquirer. pp. 73–75. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Eberle, 1993, p. 22
- ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Los Angeles Presses Inquiry Into Sexual Abuse of Children". Associated Press in The New York Times. April 1, 1984. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
- ^ Eberle, 1993, p. 34
- ^ Eberle, 1993, p. 33
- ISBN 9781478793977.
- ^ Deutsch, Linda (May 7, 1990). "Buckey Prosecutor Unsure of Witnesses' Recollections: Witness Recall Questioned in Buckey Retrial". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ Timnick, Lois (July 27, 1990). "A Mistrial for Buckey : Jury Hopelessly Deadlocked in McMartin Case : Acquittal Favored on Most Counts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ Lindsay, Robert (January 27, 1985). "Boy's Responses At Sex Abuse Trial Underscore Legal Conflict". The New York Times.
- ^ Snedeker 1995 p. 89
- ISBN 978-0-8126-9192-4.
- ISBN 978-0786418305.
- ^ Eberle, 1993, pp. 231–32
- ^ Harris, Michael (October 9, 1987). "A fugitive witness in the McMartin Pre-School molestation trial..." United Press International. Los Angeles. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ Tracy Wilkinson and James Rainey (January 19, 1990). "Tapes of Children Decided the Case for Most Jurors". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 9, 2009. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ Eberle, 1993, p. 354
- Frontline. Retrieved August 21, 2007.
- ISSN 0362-4331.
- ^ The New York Times (March 10, 2014). McMartin Preschool: Anatomy of a Panic – Retro Report | The New York Times. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
- ^ "The Pulitzer Prizes". Pulitzer.org. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- Google books
- ^ a b David Shaw (January 20, 1990). "Reporter's Early Exclusives Triggered a Media Frenzy". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 9, 2009. Retrieved July 21, 2007.
- ^ Linder, D (2003). "The McMartin Preschool Abuse Trial: A Commentary". University of Missouri–Kansas City. Archived from the original on October 30, 2008. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
- ^ "McMartin Preschool Accuser Recants". Daily Breeze. October 30, 2005. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2007.
- ^ "IPT Journal – "After the McMartin Trials: Some Reflections From the Buckeys"". www.ipt-forensics.com.
- ^ Roberts, Paul Craig (January 19, 1997) "New Witch Hunt? Child-Abuse Lies". Deseret News.
- ^ "IPT Journal – "Shalom, Salem"". Ipt-forensics.com. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- ^ deYoung, Mary (2007). "Two Decades After McMartin: A Follow-up of 22 Convicted Day Care Employees". The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare. Western Michigan University. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
- ^ Snedeker 1995 pp. 224–27
- ^ Stickel, G. "Archaeological Investigations of the McMartin Preschool". Terrerae. Archived from the original on November 30, 2006. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
- ^ . Retrieved April 10, 2008.
- ^ Snedeker 1995 pp. 120–28
- ^ Schultz, L; Wakefield H (1993). "Book Reviews: Behind the Playground Walls". Issues in Child Abuse Accusations. 5 (3).
- ^ Snedeker 1995 p. 132
- ^ "Indictment: The Mcmartin Trial". May 18, 1995.
- ^ Rabinowitz, Dorothy (July 25, 2019). "'The McMartin Family Trials' Review: Prosecution as Ludicrous Charade". Wall Street Journal.
References
- ISBN 978-0-87975-809-7.
- ISBN 978-0-87975-809-7.
Further reading
- Butler, EW; Fukurai H; Dimitrius J; Krooth R (2001). Anatomy of the McMartin child molestation case. Lanham, Md: United Press of America. ISBN 978-0-7618-1983-7.
- Giuffrida, Angela (May 23, 2019). "Italian 'Satanic panic' case returns to court two decades later". The Guardian. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
External links
- The Dark Truth About The "Dark Tunnels of McMartin" – A 33-part comprehensive article by John Earl
- McMartin preschool trial Archived August 10, 2004, at the Wayback Machine, by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
- McMartin preschool trial at University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law
- McMartin preschool trial at Frontline