McMartin Child Quizzed on ‘Secret’ Games Room

During his first full day of cross-examination, a 10-year-old boy was quizzed Thursday about a “secret room” at the McMartin Pre-School that he had described as the scene of “naked games,” in which children were molested, photographed and tied up.

Defense attorney William Powell Jr., who represents Mary Ann Jackson, 57, focused his questioning on such details as the size of the room, the location of its entrance, whether it was carpeted and what kind of a light fixture it had.

He also directed the child to draw a diagram of the room’s relation to the rest of the school. The boy had testified earlier that it was an empty, unused classroom to which small groups of children were taken from their classes when he attended the school six years ago.

Powell later told reporters outside the courtroom that he doubted that such a room ever existed.

In court, Powell also questioned the child about the sources and extent of his sexual knowledge, asking about his sexual vocabulary and whether there were magazines containing photographs of nude women around his house.

Powell also asked the young witness for details of the first time he met various teachers and played sexual games.

The boy is the second alleged child victim to testify in the preliminary hearing for seven defendants accused of 208 counts of molestation and conspiracy involving 41 children since 1978. The hearing is in its sixth month in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

The accused are Jackson; school founder Virginia McMartin, 77; her daughter, Peggy McMartin Buckey, 58, and grandchildren, Raymond Buckey, 26, and Peggy Ann Buckey, 28; Betty Raidor, 65, and Babette Spitler, 36. All are former teachers at the school.

During the 2 1/2 hours of cross-examination, Powell was frequently cut short by Municipal Judge Aviva K. Bobb, who said his questions were irrelevant or too time-consuming when weighed against the value of the testimony they might produce. She often ordered him to move on to another line of questioning.

Defense attorneys in the molestation case said their cross-examination of the boy will be even longer and more detailed than that of the first child witness, a 7-year-old boy who was questioned for six days.

“This kid is going to be on the stand a long time,” said attorney Walter Urban, who represents Raidor.

“His story (of alleged sexual abuse at the school) is a broad-brush picture that’s missing too many details. We’re going to try to fill them in and see how much he really remembers.”

Urban and the other six defense lawyers have said they will show that the child’s memory of events that occurred six years ago is hazy at best and that his testimony was programmed by his parents, therapists and the prosecution.

Two minor inconsistencies in the child’s testimony emerged Thursday. He said he remembers being forced to play what he called “the naked movie star game” only four or five times, not weekly as he had said Wednesday.

Doorless Doorway

Also, after saying he could not remember the entrance to “the secret room,” he later described it as being entered through a doorless doorway from another classroom.

The boy appeared bored during much of the questioning, swiveling in his chair and yawning and stretching as the day progressed.

However, whenever Powell asked the same question twice or misstated an earlier answer, the child corrected him.

“I told you I don’t know,” he said at one point; at another, saying “I didn’t say ‘the’ game, I said ‘a’ game.”