McMartin Witness, 5, Holds to Tale of Rape and Sodomy

Through 11 hours of testimony, a 5-year-old girl stuck by her allegations that Ray Buckey, the chief defendant in the McMartin Pre-School molestation case, raped and sodomized her with pencils and played “naked games” with her and other pupils at the school.

The child is the sixth to testify in the preliminary hearing for seven former teachers accused of 208 counts of molestation and conspiracy involving 41 children at the now-closed Manhattan Beach nursery school.

In another development, Judge Aviva K. Bobb said she will rule today on a motion by the defense that more than half of the molestation counts against the seven defendants be dropped. They argued last week that a new section of the Penal Code shortened the statute of limitations for acts of child molestation committed before 1982.

In her testimony over the last 5 1/2 days, the dark-haired kindergarten pupil testified that she and other children were penetrated with pencils by Buckey, 26, during a game of “horsie” at the school. She said she was forced to play other “naked games” while photos were taken.

The child, the youngest to take the stand, also testified to several bizarre incidents, including being taken for an airplane ride by strangers and being taken to a “costume” house where Buckey and a stranger dressed in costumes and gave them bubble baths.

She testified that Buckey drove her and other children to an unknown airport where two women named Leslie and Sandy gave them a ride. She said she saw buildings from the airplane, but did not know the name of the airport, where they went or how long the trip took. Before going to the airport, she said, they stopped at a “costume” house, where they were met by a stranger who called himself Fireman John. The man was dressed in a fireman’s hat and outfit, but then changed to a ghost outfit. She testified that Buckey changed into a witch’s costume and then gave the children bubble baths. She said that “nothing bad” happened during either incident.

Outside the courtroom, prosecutor Lael Rubin said that she thought the child had been the most consistent of the witnesses to appear on the stand so far.

“I think she was a fabulous witness especially in light of her age and the fact that she was on the stand for 5 1/2 days,” Rubin said.

However, the defense seized on several apparent inconsistencies in testimony to buttress their arguments that this child and others in the case have made up the incidents or that the ideas were planted in their minds by leading questions posed to them by therapists at Children’s Institute International, a counseling center for child abuse victims.

They also maintained that the child’s tale of airplane rides, costume houses and bubble baths strained credulity.

“They (the incidents) were remarkable examples of imagination,” said attorney Bradley Brunon, who represents the school’s owner, Virginia McMartin, 77.

According to the defense, the major inconsistency came when Daniel Davis, attorney for Buckey, asked her during cross-examination if “you ever touched Ray with your mouth.” The child answered “No.” She had testified during direct examination that Buckey forced her to orally copulate him.

A Semantics Problem

Prosecutor Rubin, however, defended her witness, saying that the inconsistency and others were merely a problem of semantics--that these questions were asked out of context and were phrased to trip up the witness. “There’s a difference between being asked if you ever touched someone (or asking them) if they were forced to,” she said.

Both the prosecution and defense quizzed the child gently, asking questions in quiet voices and not pressing for details as they had the older witnesses. The child, who was dressed in frilly dresses and hair ribbons, appeared in court each day clutching a different stuffed animal. She remained alert and relaxed during most of her 11 hours on the witness stand. During restless periods she swiveled in her chair, looked at the ceiling, played with her dolls and ate chocolate chip cookies.

Defender Forrest Latiner said, “In terms of cute, I give her a 10. In memory, a 1 1/2.” The prosecution kept the child on the witness stand for less than 30 minutes during direct testimony, and the child was not asked the detailed questions that have been posed to the five older chidren who have testified in the case.

Complaint by Defense

The defense complained that because of the sparseness of that direct testimony and the court’s restricting their cross-examination, they were hampered in attempts to impeach the child’s testimony.

Discussing the difficulty of questioning a witness so young, defense attorney Bradley Brunon said, “You have to reduce language to its simplest level.”

The child’s 8-year-old sister is expected to take the stand today.

Also charged in the case are former McMartin teachers Peggy McMartin Buckey, 58; Peggy Ann Buckey, 29; Babette Spitler, 37; Betty Raidor, 65, and Mary Ann Jackson, 57.