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From satanic rituals, child sex abuse, to animal slaughter, the shocking allegations from the McMartin Pre-School trial

'Uncovered: The McMartin Family Trials', a documentary on Oxygen, looks at whether the top-order pres-school had a darker side.
PUBLISHED AUG 1, 2019

The McMartin Pre-School was a well-respected and popular institution in the community of Manhattan Beach, California. However, a phone call from a parent in 1983, changed everything. The parent, Judy Johnson, claimed that her son had been sexually abused at the school and alerted the police. 

Slowly, reports of sexual abuse, child pornography, and Satanism being done in the school started to emerge. Oxygen media's documentary 'Uncovered: The McMartin Family Trials' looks at what really took place during the McMartin family trials and whether the seemingly nurturing and colorful pre-school had a darker side. 

The pre-school was run by founder Virginia McMartin, her daughter Peggy McMartin Buckey, her grandchildren Peggy Ann Buckey and Raymond “Ray” Buckey. The family was very well-liked and the school even had a waitlist as it had become one of the top pre-schools around. Over ten years, seven teachers were arrested on over 300 charges of child molestation and conspiracy. In the end, charges against five of the teachers were dropped while the remaining two went to trial and were eventually acquitted. 

Virginia McMartin was arrested with six of her colleagues, some of whom were also her family members (Wikipedia)

The lead up to the case 

Upon noticing an irritation on her two-and-a-half-year-old son’s bottom, Judy Johnson claimed that her child had been sexually abused by Ray Buckey. The police arrested Ray but released him the same day due to lack of evidence. This did not sit well with Johnson who wrote to the district attorney. She claimed that her son had been a part of a satanic ritual with the McMartin pre-school employees. In the ritual, she claimed that her child was taken to a church where "Ray flew in the air" and "Peggy drilled a child under the arms."

To investigate the case further, the Manhattan Beach Police Department sent out a letter to more than 200 parents asking them to ask their children of any sexual or inappropriate business. The letter caused a lot of panic amongst the parents of the school and led to a bunch of shocking allegations. "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'," the letter read. 

As the investigation continued, the LA district attorney's office referred parents to the Children's Institute International (CII) which provided counseling and therapy to McMartin students. Social worker Kee MacFarlane conducted interviews with the children via sock puppets and shared that the children had revealed "yucky secrets." By the end, 350 children described horrific accounts of abuse. 

The shocking allegations 

The children described being molested by groups of adults including both men and women. These adults included teachers at the McMartin Pre-School. The children alleged that the abuse took place in public bathrooms, the backroom of a meat market, or in tunnels underneath the school.

According to one child, Ray Buckey cut off a rabbit's ears to scare the children into being silent. Another child claimed that he had been forced to drink rabbit's blood. One child shared that he had witnessed Ray Buckey beating a horse to death using a baseball bat while a girl testified that the children were forced to play a sick game called 'naked movie star.' In the game, the children were reportedly made to take their clothes off and were then photographed. Despite all these allegations, no films or pictures were ever found in connection to the McMartin case. 

Former McMartin student Elizabeth Cioffi said, "I was two going on three when I started going to McMartin. I was a 3-year-old little girl being made to stand in front of people and have pictures taken when I was naked. I know I was molested at McMartin Pre-School."

As reported by the New York Times, 1984 saw seven employees of the school (Virginia McMartin, Peggy McMartin Buckey, Peggy Ann Buckey, Ray Buckey, and employees Mary Ann Jackson, Babette Spitler, and Betty Raidor) being indicted. They all faced around 115 charges which then became 321 charges. When the preliminary hearing ended, the charges against Virginia McMartin, Peggy McMartin Buckey, Jackson, Spitler, and Raidor were dropped as there was insufficient evidence to prove them guilty. In 1989, a jury had found Peggy and Ray not guilty on 52 counts of child molestation but remained deadlocked on 12 molestation charges against Ray.

Eventually, all the charges against Ray were dismissed. Till date, some of those who testified in the trials maintain that they were victims of abuse. There are also those who say they lied. In 2005, a man named Kyle Zirpolo told the LA Times that he had lied about being sexually abused. He recalled his interview at the CII and said, "I remember thinking to myself, 'I’m not going to get out of here unless I tell them what they want to hear." I remember telling them nothing happened to me. I remember them almost giggling and laughing, saying, 'Oh, we know these things happened to you. Why don't you just go ahead and tell us? Use these dolls if you're scared.'"

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