Jump to content

McMartin preschool trial: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Reverted edits by Arthur Rubin (talk) to last version by Crum375
Qworty (talk | contribs)
13,129 edits
→Media coverage: Satz's conflict of interest
Line 26: Line 26:


==Media coverage==
==Media coverage==
[[Wayne Satz]], at the time a reporter for the Los Angeles ABC affiliate television station [[KABC-TV|KABC]], reported on the case and the children's allegations. He presented an unchallenged view of the children's and parents' claims.<ref name=shaw>{{cite news |first=David |last=Shaw |authorlink=David Shaw (writer) |coauthors= |title=Reporter's Early Exclusives Triggered a Media Frenzy |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/2031662.html?dids=2031662&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS&type=current&date=Jan+20%2C+1990&author=Shaw%2C+David&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=A1&desc=Reporter%27s+Early+Exclusives+Triggered+a+Media+Frenzy |quote=The role of investigative reporter Wayne Satz in the McMartin preschool trial is discussed. |publisher=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=[[January 20]], [[1990]] |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref> Satz later entered into a romantic relationship with Kee MacFarlane, the social worker at the Children's Institute International, who was interviewing the children. Another instance of media conflict of interest occurred when David Rosenzweig, the editor at the [[Los Angeles Times]] overseeing the coverage, became engaged to marry Lael Rubin, the prosecutor.<ref name=macfarlane>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= The Longest Trial - A Post-Mortem; Collapse of Child-Abuse Case: So Much Agony for So Little. |url=http://holysmoke.org/sdhok/sat17.htm |quote=The KABC reporter who first disclosed the McMartin accusations, Wayne Satz, later entered into a romantic relationship with Kee MacFarlane, the social worker at the Children's Institute International...More recently, David Rosenzweig, the former metropolitan editor of The Los Angeles Times who supervised the coverage of the case for some time, has become engaged to marry Ms. Rubin, the prosecutor. All involved deny any conflict of interest or improprieties. ... |publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=[[January 24]], [[1990]] |accessdate=2007-08-21 }}</ref>
[[Wayne Satz]], at the time a reporter for the Los Angeles ABC affiliate television station [[KABC-TV|KABC]], reported on the case and the children's allegations. He presented an unchallenged view of the children's and parents' claims.<ref name=shaw>{{cite news |first=David |last=Shaw |authorlink=David Shaw (writer) |coauthors= |title=Reporter's Early Exclusives Triggered a Media Frenzy |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/2031662.html?dids=2031662&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS&type=current&date=Jan+20%2C+1990&author=Shaw%2C+David&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=A1&desc=Reporter%27s+Early+Exclusives+Triggered+a+Media+Frenzy |quote=The role of investigative reporter Wayne Satz in the McMartin preschool trial is discussed. |publisher=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=[[January 20]], [[1990]] |accessdate=2007-07-21 }}</ref> Satz later became sexually involved with Kee MacFarlane, the social worker at the Children's Institute International, who was interviewing the children. Another instance of media conflict of interest occurred when David Rosenzweig, the editor at the [[Los Angeles Times]] overseeing the coverage, became engaged to marry Lael Rubin, the prosecutor.<ref name=macfarlane>{{cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= The Longest Trial - A Post-Mortem; Collapse of Child-Abuse Case: So Much Agony for So Little. |url=http://holysmoke.org/sdhok/sat17.htm |quote=The KABC reporter who first disclosed the McMartin accusations, Wayne Satz, later entered into a romantic relationship with Kee MacFarlane, the social worker at the Children's Institute International...More recently, David Rosenzweig, the former metropolitan editor of The Los Angeles Times who supervised the coverage of the case for some time, has become engaged to marry Ms. Rubin, the prosecutor. All involved deny any conflict of interest or improprieties. ... |publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=[[January 24]], [[1990]] |accessdate=2007-08-21 }}</ref>


==Aftermath==
==Aftermath==

Revision as of 09:40, 27 February 2008

File:Virginiamcmartin.jpg
Virginia McMartin

The McMartin preschool trial was a day care sexual abuse case of the 1980s. Members of the McMartin family, who operated a preschool in California, were charged with numerous acts of sexual abuse of children in their care. After six years of criminal trials, no convictions were obtained, and all charges were dropped in 1990. It was the longest and most expensive criminal trial of its time.[1][2] Accusations were made in 1983. Arrests and the pretrial investigation ran from 1984 to 1987, and the trial ran from 1987 to 1990.

Initial allegations

In 1983, Judy Johnson (1944-1986), mother of one of the Manhattan Beach, California preschool's young students, complained to the police that her son had been sodomized by her estranged husband and by McMartin teacher Ray Buckey, who was the grandson of school founder Virginia McMartin and son of administrator Peggy McMartin Buckey (1926-2001).[3][2]

Judy Johnson's belief began when her son had painful bowel movements. What happened next is still disputed. Some sources state that at that time, he denied her suggestion that his preschool teachers had molested him. [4] [3] One source stated that a hospital exam confirmed he was sodomized, and that he named a teacher at the school as the perpetrator. [5]

In addition, she also made several more extravagant accusations, including that people at the daycare had sexual encounters with animals.[6] Ray Buckey was questioned, but was not prosecuted due to lack of evidence. The police then sent an open 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.[3]

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.[7]

One source states that in 1985, Judy Johnson "was diagnosed as suffering acute paranoid schizophrenia." [8]Another source states she "was eventually found to be a paranoid schizophrenic."[2][9]In 1986 she was found dead in her home, from complications of chronic alcoholism.[10][3]

Interviewing and examining the children

Several hundred children were then questioned by the Children’s Institute International (CII), a Los Angeles abuse therapy clinic. By spring of 1984, 360 children had been identified as having been abused. Astrid Heppenstall Heger performed medical examinations and took photos of minute scarring purportedly caused by anal penetration. Critics have alleged that the questioners asked the children leading questions, repetitively, which, it is said, always yields positive responses from young children, making it impossible to know what the child actually experienced. Some claim the questioning itself may have led to false-memory syndrome among the children who were questioned.[3][4]

Bizarre allegations

Some of the accusations were bizarre.[6] It was alleged that, in addition to having been sexually abused, they saw witches fly, traveled in a hot-air balloon, and were taken through underground tunnels.[4] When shown a series of photographs by Danny Davis, the McMartin's lawyer, one child identified actor Chuck Norris as one of the abusers.[3] There were claims of orgies at 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 children said they were made to play a game called "Naked Movie Star" in which they were photographed nude.[1][4]

"What surprised me as an investigative journalist was that nobody looked beyond the seemingly fanciful nature of the disclosures. Nobody tried to interpret what the disclosures might mean through a child's frame of reference and perception. Nobody searched for plausible explanation....children talked about...improbable events like jumping out of airplanes and seeing a horse killed. Yet, investigators did not track reports that Raymond Buckey had a friend who ran a special effects studio or that Virginia McMartin's sister owned a horse ranch."[5]

Trial

In March 1984, Virginia McMartin; Peggy McMartin Buckey; Ray Buckey; Ray's sister, Peggy Ann Buckey; and teachers Mary Ann Jackson, Bette Raidor, and Babette Spitler were charged with 208 counts of child abuse. In the 20 months of preliminary hearings, the prosecution, led by attorney Lael Rubin, presented their theory of sexual abuse. The children's testimony during the preliminary hearings was inconsistent. [11] In 1986, a new district attorney called the evidence "incredibly weak," and dropped all charges against Virginia McMartin, Peggy Ann Buckey, Mary Ann Jackson, Bette Raidor and Babette Spitler. 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. The cases went to trial, and in 1990, after three years of testimony and nine weeks of deliberation by the jury, Peggy McMartin Buckey was acquitted on all counts.[9] Ray Buckey was cleared on 39 of 52 counts, and freed on bail after more than five years in jail. He was retried later on six of the 13 counts, which produced another hung 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 5 years without ever being convicted of any wrongdoing.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). Nine of 11 jurors at a press conference following the trial stated that they believed the children had been molested. These same jurors stated that they believed that the evidence did not allow them to state who had committed the abuse beyond a reasonable doubt. [12]

Media coverage

Wayne Satz, at the time a reporter for the Los Angeles ABC affiliate television station KABC, reported on the case and the children's allegations. He presented an unchallenged view of the children's and parents' claims.[13] Satz later became sexually involved with Kee MacFarlane, the social worker at the Children's Institute International, who was interviewing the children. Another instance of media conflict of interest occurred when David Rosenzweig, the editor at the Los Angeles Times overseeing the coverage, became engaged to marry Lael Rubin, the prosecutor.[14]

Aftermath

The McMartin preschool itself was closed and leveled. Three of the accused have died since the trial concluded. In 2005, newspapers reported that a child had retracted his story and said he lied, believing he was protecting his younger siblings, and pleasing his parents.[15][16]

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. In 1988 case of Coy v. Iowa these laws were held to violate the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees the right of the accused to confront witnesses against them. However, this doctrine is limited; in the 1990 case Maryland v. Craig, the United States Supreme Court ruled that closed circuit testimony was permissible where it was limited to circumstances in which the judge found likelihood of harm to the minor from testifying in open court. One lasting legacy of the trial is an increased understanding of how to question very young children for evidence, with an eye toward their capacity for suggestibility and false memories.

David Heckler, author of “The Battle and the Backlash - The Child Sexual Abuse War,” states:

“What happened at the McMartin Preschool will be debated for a long time. Few aspects of the case are clear, but it requires no strain of credulity to believe that the children could have been abused at the facility without being diagnosed by a pediatrician.” [17]

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. [2]

Jane McCord in the book “Behind the Playground Walls - Sexual Abuse in Preschools“ in her chapter "A Tale of Two Communities" states that in the McMartin case “there appear to be no winners and many, many losers” and that “it certainly raised more questions than it ever answered.” [18]

Allegations of secret tunnels

An excavation undertaken in May 1990 claimed to reveal tunnels under the McMartin Preschool.[19] Relevant quotes from the summation are written as follows:

"The results of the survey by Ground penetrating Radar proved consistent with discoveries of the subsequent excavations, all of which confirmed not only the basic descriptions of children but also specific details of location, interior features and putative function." [...] "If the stories of the children were bogus fantasies, there is no excuse for the tunnels discovered under the school. If there really were tunnels, there is no excuse for the glib dismissal of any and all of the complaints of the children and their parents."

A 1995 article by freelance journalist John Earl published by the Institute for Psychological Therapies claims to discredit the archaeologist's claims. The study showed 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 there was no way for the defendants to fill in any purported tunnels once the investigation began. The report concluded that any disturbed soil under the slab was from the sewer line, and from construction fill buried under the slab, before it was poured. Some dated fill material under the slab was from the year 1940.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Los Angeles Presses Inquiry Into Sexual Abuse of Children". Associated Press. April 1, 1984. Retrieved 2007-07-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d Talbot, Margaret (January 7, 2001). "The Lives They Lived: 01-07-01: Peggy McMartin Buckey, b. 1926; The Devil in The Nursery". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f Ramsland, Katherine. "McMartin Daycare Case". Crime Library. Retrieved 2007-08-26. From there, reports are conflicting. Some say that there was no evidence of actual sexual abuse, while others say that Matthew admitted that he had seen Ray Buckey's penis and that Ray had photographed him. Judy contacted the police.
  4. ^ a b c d Eberle, Paul (1993). The Abuse of Innocence: The McMartin Preschool Trial. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0879758090. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ a b Tamarkin, Civia (1994). "Investigative Issues in Ritual Abuse Cases, Part I and Part II". Treating Abuse Today. Retrieved 2007-12-09. (She) claimed she noticed blood in her son's diaper and an irritation around his rectum. A hospital exam confirmed her worst fears her son has been sodomized. Asked who was responsible, the toddler said, "Mr. Ray." "Mr. Ray" was...a teacher at the McMartin preschool, which the boy had been attending. Later, when the boy was questioned by local police, he named other children whom he claimed also were present during the sexual abuse. Cite error: The named reference "tamarkin" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b "Notes from an Interview with Judy Johnson (archived)". University of Missouri–Kansas City. February 15, 1984. Archived from the original on 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2007-10-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ "Letter to McMartin Preschool Parents from Police Chief Kuhlmeyer, Jr". University of Missouri–Kansas City. September 8, 1983. Retrieved 2007-08-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ Wilson, Mike (1989-11-13). "A SEARCH FOR VICTIMS QUEST SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH IN CALIFORNIA CHILD ABUSE CASE HAS COST THE TAXPAYERS SIX YEARS, $15 MILLION". Miami Herald. pp. 1C. Judy Johnson, who started the whole thing, never testified against Buckey. In 1985, she was diagnosed as suffering acute paranoid schizophrenia. She died two years later of a disease related to alcoholism. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  9. ^ a b "Child Abuse Case Ends". Miami Herald. January 19, 1990. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ "Sex Case Accuser is Found Dead". New York Times. December 21, 1986. Retrieved 2007-08-21. The body of the woman whose complaint began the McMartin preschool molestation case was found in her home on Friday. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ Lindsay, Robert (January 27, 1985). "Boy's responses at sex abuse trial underscore legal conflict". New York Times. He is a small, sandy-haired child named Willie. Matter-of-factly, he answers yes, he was sexually molested by his teachers at the Virginia McMartin Pre-school. A moment later he seems to contradict himself. At other times, he repeatedly says, Don't remember, when asked about experiences he described to psychologists months ago. ... {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Tapes of Children Decided the Case for Most Jurors". Los Angeles Times. Friday, January 19, 1990. pp. A1 and A2. On Thursday, though, it was the jurors' turn. They acquitted Ray Buckey and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, on 52 counts of child molestation conspiracy, and then, in press conferences and private interviews, explained how they had sorted through the tangle of evidence to make their judgment. Juror Sally Cordova, 27, a cashier for Vons markets, said she voted guilty on 11 of the 13 counts that ended in deadlock. Twelve involved Ray Buckey and the 13th was a shared conspiracy count. Three of the counts involved an alleged victim whom Cordova believed. "I believed the statements that the girl first made on tape during the CII interview," Cordova said. "The first interview gave what I th ... {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Shaw, David (January 20, 1990). "Reporter's Early Exclusives Triggered a Media Frenzy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-07-21. The role of investigative reporter Wayne Satz in the McMartin preschool trial is discussed. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ "The Longest Trial - A Post-Mortem; Collapse of Child-Abuse Case: So Much Agony for So Little". New York Times. January 24, 1990. Retrieved 2007-08-21. The KABC reporter who first disclosed the McMartin accusations, Wayne Satz, later entered into a romantic relationship with Kee MacFarlane, the social worker at the Children's Institute International...More recently, David Rosenzweig, the former metropolitan editor of The Los Angeles Times who supervised the coverage of the case for some time, has become engaged to marry Ms. Rubin, the prosecutor. All involved deny any conflict of interest or improprieties. ... {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  15. ^ "McMartin Preschool Accuser Recants". Daily Breeze. October 30, 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-21. Saying he lied to please his parents and protect his younger siblings, one of the children who claimed he was molested at the notorious McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach more than 20 years ago has recanted his original story. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  16. ^ "I'm Sorry; A long-delayed apology from one of the accusers in the notorious McMartin Pre-School molestation case". Los Angeles Times Magazine. October 30, 2005. Retrieved 2007-08-21. Twenty-one years ago, a child then known as Kyle Sapp told police that he had been the victim of sexual abuse at the McMartin Pre- School in Manhattan Beach. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  17. ^ Hechler, David (1988). The Battle and the Backlash - The Child Sexual Abuse War. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books. ISBN 0-669-14097-x. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  18. ^ Behind the Playground Walls - Sexual Abuse in Preschools. New York, London: The Guilford Press. 1993. ISBN 0-89862-523-8. In the aftermath of this long and controversial case, there appear to be no winners and many, many losers. The children who alleged the abuse have spent much of their young lives with controversy, disbelief, and ongoing uncertainty. The families have been unable to put the reported abuse behind them because of the lengthy legal proceedings and media coverage. One of the defendants spent five years in jail, while others lost their life savings, their homes, and even their children. The McMartin case will remain infamous, and in the end, it certainly raised more questions than it ever answered. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Archaeological Investigations of the McMartin Preschool". Terrerae. Archived from the original on 2007-10-31. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
  20. ^ "The Dark Truth About the "Dark Tunnels of McMartin"". IPT. Archived from the original on 2007-08-26. Retrieved 2007-08-21. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=McMartin_preschool_trial&oldid=194383719"