Local News in Brief : Child in McMartin Case to Talk to Judge

The judge in the McMartin Pre-School molestation trial will go to a Manhattan Beach counseling center today to talk informally with the 7-year-old boy whose account of sexual abuse sparked the investigation that has resulted in 65 charges of molestation and conspiracy against Raymond Buckey and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey.

Although the child’s father and a psychologist who evaluated the boy oppose the interview, a compromise was worked out under which Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Pounders, accompanied by a court reporter, will question the boy about his reported reluctance to testify and explore ways that might make him comfortable about coming to court.

The two will meet in a treatment room with the boy’s stepmother and possibly his attorney and the psychologist who evaluated him. Prosecution and defense attorneys will watch, listen and videotape the proceedings from behind a one-way mirror. The defendants have waived their right to be present.