Therapist Silent on Claim That McMartin Witness Was Coached

A child therapist refused Wednesday to answer many questions by defense attorneys who claim that an 8-year-old girl testifying in the McMartin Pre-School mass molestation case was coached during therapy sessions.

Cheryl Kent, who is still treating the girl, claimed that information regarding the young witness was confidential and did not answer many of the questions.

“Our position is she acted as an agent for the D.A.’s office,” defense attorney Dean Gits told the judge. “We think she prepared the child for court.”

Denies Working for D.A.

Kent testified that she was not working for the district attorney’s office or for Children’s Institute International, where many of the alleged child abuse victims sought treatment.

She refused to answer whether she “played court” with the girl or if she prepared her in any other way for testimony.

Municipal Judge Aviva K. Bobb dismissed Kent without ruling on whether she could claim a privilege regarding questions about the therapy sessions.

During the afternoon session, the girl testified that she was raped by Raymond Buckey during a “doctor game,” but defense attorneys claim that the language she used in her testimony indicated she may have been coached.

“What happened during the game?” Buckey’s attorney, Daniel Davis, asked.

“He put his penis in my vagina,” the girl answered.

“You don’t know what you mean by the word penis, do you?” Davis asked. “No,” she replied.

“Did anyone ever tell you what a penis looks like?” Davis asked. “No,” she said.

Outside the courtroom, Davis said the girl’s testimony proved that the sexual abuse could not have occurred and that her therapist and prosecutors had told her what to say.

“I’m convinced this child didn’t know what the sex organ was. She used the word the adults told her to use,” Davis said.

Bail Reduced

However, Lael Rubin, the chief prosecutor, insisted that the girl knew the meaning of the word.

“How would you like to be an 8-year-old girl and describe what a penis is?” Rubin said.

In another development, prosecutors and the attorney for the school’s founder, Virginia McMartin, 77, agreed to have her bail reduced from $50,000 to $5,000. The woman is already free on bail.

“It doesn’t change anything at all,” Rubin said.

Many of the defendants have put up their homes to cover the bail, but McMartin had paid cash, attorney Eliseo Gauna said.

“This will save her some money,” he said. “Sooner or later they are all going to be broke.”

He said the defendants’ bail must be renewed each year. McMartin’s new bail is effective this year.

The defendants, except Raymond Buckey, 26, and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, 58, are free on bail.

The 8-year-old girl is the seventh of 41 children expected to testify against the defendants accused of molesting dozens of their pupils.

The preliminary hearing, already in its eighth month, is being held to determine if the defendants--charged with 208 counts of molestation and conspiracy involving the 41 pupils between 1978 and early 1984--should stand trial in Superior Court.

Also charged are Peggy Ann Buckey, 29, former teachers Babette Spitler, 37, Betty Raidor, 65 and Mary Ann Jackson, 57.