2nd McMartin Pupil, 10, Alleges Sexual Abuse

A 10-year-old boy testified Wednesday that he and other pupils at the Virginia McMartin Pre-School were forced to perform sex acts with all seven defendants in the molestation case, including the school’s 77-year-old founder, as well as with others he called “the strangers.”

The self-assured, articulate youngster--the second alleged victim to take the witness stand--said he had been shown nude photographs of himself and his classmates by defendant Raymond Buckey, 26, who he said told him: “Here’s you and you’re gonna be a star.”

Clutching a teddy bear, he also described bloody animal sacrifices at a church and a farm.

The boy, who is now in the fourth grade, used street terms for body parts and sex acts in his dramatic account of events that allegedly occurred at the Manhattan Beach nursery school six years ago.

During 90 minutes of direct examination by Deputy Dist. Atty. Christine Johnston, the freckle-faced youngster not only appeared to buttress the first witness’s testimony, but also gave the first indication in court that photographs of the children exist and made the first mention in court of satanic rituals. Rumors of such rituals had circulated widely.

Only four of the 208 counts against the seven former teachers involve the boy, but prosecutors said they will add more counts as a result of Wednesday’s testimony. The boy testified that some of the sex acts occurred at the school during “naked games” played to records. After the teachers helped them undress, he said, the children were told to walk or dance in a circle until the music stopped.

Then, either standing or “posed” spread-eagled on the floor, they were photographed by Raymond Buckey or his sister, defendant Peggy Ann Buckey, 28, the child added.

He said he had been shown pictures of himself and other naked children, some of whom he did not know. Often there would be three or four figures in the same photograph, he added. No such pictures have been found, prosecutors say.

He also said he and other children were tied up with ropes during some of the games and held in what he called “the secret room” at the school.

Sometimes, he said, he and other pupils were taken to such locations as the storeroom of a market and an unfamiliar house.

Asked what happened at the house, the boy responded: “They would touch us. . . . We would play the ‘naked movie star’ game over by the fireplace, by the brick hearth.”

“Who would touch you?” Johnston asked.

“The teachers and the strangers,” he answered, adding that the children were photographed there also. On the unusual field trips, he said, the pupils were led out a side door of the school to a car and told “scrunch down” during the ride to avoid being seen.

The boy also testified that he had been forced to orally copulate Raymond Buckey. He said Buckey had masturbated him and inserted his fingers and objects into his anus. He said he and other children bled from the anus after being touched by Buckey.

A pediatrician testified earlier this month that she had found rectal scarring indicative of sexual abuse in the child now on the stand.

The child also testified that Raymond Buckey had sexual intercourse in the children’s presence with his sister and had shown the children what they were supposed to do to the female teachers. That, the boy said, included touching the women’s breasts and genitals with their hands and mouths, and allowing the women to touch them on their genitals and in their anuses.

He said Virginia McMartin had “touched” him on the chest and penis while he was naked.

Also accused in the molestation and conspiracy case are Virginia McMartin, 77; Peggy McMartin Buckey, 58; Babette Spitler, 36; Betty Raidor, 65, and Mary Ann Jackson, 57. The preliminary hearing for the seven defendants, now in its sixth month, is being held to determine whether they should stand trial. The child also testified that the teachers had warned him and other children not to tell “any of the secrets” and underscored their message by mutilating or killing a pony, rabbits, turtles, chickens and birds while the children watched.

Asked whether he was scared when he saw the pony bleed, he replied:

“Yes. I didn’t cry out loud, but tears came down my eyes. I didn’t say anything or scream.”

Sacrificed on Altar

He said some of the animals were sacrificed on the altar of a church and that the rituals included people wearing black costumes, ropes around their waists and witch and devil masks.

He testified that he did not tell anyone about the alleged activities until being interviewed a year ago at Children’s Institute International, a Los Angeles diagnostic and treatment center for child-abuse victims, “because I thought that my parents would be hurt if I told those secrets.”

The child concluded his direct testimony Wednesday afternoon and defense attorneys began cross-examination, but asked only preliminary questions before court recessed for the day.

Outside the courtroom, his former teacher, defendant Jackson, told reporters: “I say I am innocent. I tell you, I tell the whole world, and nothing or no one can take that away from me.” She said she remembered the boy as an energetic child whom she sometimes “benched” for misbehavior.

Raymond Buckey’s attorney, Daniel Davis, said the child was giving answers he had learned by “rote.”

Attorney Eliseo Gauna, who represents Spitler, called the boy’s allegations “crazy and ridiculous” and said he intends to subpoena the leaders of “all churches in the South Bay.”