McMartin Says Kin Believes Abuse Took Place

Completing her fifth and final day on the witness stand in the McMartin Pre-School molestation trial, family matriarch Virginia McMartin acknowledged Monday that one of her own granddaughters believes that her two children were molested at the family-run school.

“The family was upset to find we had a traitor in the family,” the 80-year-old McMartin told the court. “After all, she substitute-taught at the school and knew these things couldn’t have happened.”

The subject surfaced Monday for the first time in the 4-year-old case as prosecutor Lael Rubin asked McMartin about entries in her diary in January, 1984--months before she and six other teachers were indicted.

“You are aware that your granddaughter believes her children were molested at your preschool? . . . And (that) your granddaughter spoke at a meeting in Torrance in 1984 about her belief?” Rubin asked.

‘She Was Brainwashed’

“I know she was brainwashed by Kee MacFarlane and the other therapists, just like the parents were,” McMartin answered, referring to staff members at Children’s Institute International who interviewed pupils about alleged sexual abuse at the Manhattan Beach nursery school.

The granddaughter is the daughter of McMartin’s son, Glen, who died in 1981. The children, ages 7 and 9, are not witnesses in the case against McMartin’s daughter, Peggy McMartin Buckey, and grandson, Raymond Buckey. The Buckeys face 99 counts of molestation and one count of conspiracy involving 14 children who attended the once-prestigious, now-defunct seaside school.

McMartin’s testimony was taken outside the presence of the jury and videotaped for presentation later should she die before the defense gets its turn to put on its case.

Rubin also asked McMartin, who has objected vigorously to her private diaries having been made public, about entries in the spring and summer of 1984 that refer to “fixed stories (school)” and concerns about then-fellow-defendant Betty Raidor. Charges against Raidor, McMartin and three other teachers were dropped last year for insufficient evidence.

‘Too Much Talking’

“Earlier you were talking about some difficulties you and your daughter had with Betty Raidor. You referred to her as butting in, making some statements she shouldn’t,” Rubin began. “Isn’t it true that some of your concern about Betty Raidor related to the fact that she might do a little too much talking?”

“In what way?” McMartin asked.

“Related to what she knew was going on at the school,” Rubin said.

“No, that’s not true at all,” McMartin replied.

Rubin then pointed to entries as early as November, 1983, which read, in part, “Betty to be out all week. Supposed to be a cold. Grrr. (McMartin’s investigator) is worried over Betty’s interview (with police).”

McMartin said she had “no idea” what some of the entries referred to. She denied ever having discussed Raidor’s police interview with her, but said she was concerned because two Manhattan Beach police detectives had “pounced” on Raidor while she was ill--and “she fell for their line,” the diary reads.

‘Witch Hunt’

“I’d be concerned about anything (the two detectives) did. They’re very sneaky people. . . . The whole witch hunt was a worry,” she testified.

In earlier testimony, McMartin vehemently denied that she had ever molested a child or seen the defendants do anything that might even be misconstrued as molestation. Children have testified that she was present in her wheelchair during so-called “naked games” and one child alleged that she had “touched” him on the chest and penis while he was naked.

She acknowledged that Raymond Buckey had received counseling from a pastor at the Church of Religious Science in Redondo Beach for unspecified “problems.” Prosecutors claimed those problems included a sexual penchant for young children; defense attorneys have denied it, and church officials have declined comment.

A Drinking Problem

His mother told The Times her son had had a drinking problem, and McMartin’s diaries show he was arrested for drunk driving in 1982.

The feisty great-grandmother’s occasional outbursts and gratuitous comments on everything from the Lakers basketball team to the “dumb” questions she was required to answer led Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Pounders to threaten to jail her for contempt at one point. She became more subdued during her final days on the stand.

But not completely. Asked by defense attorney Dean Gits on Monday about a diary entry in August, 1984, that referred to a “witch lady,” McMartin replied: “I probably was referring to somebody in this case, some part of this prosecution. . . . As far as I’m concerned they’re all witch ladies.”