Former McMartin Defendant Testifies

A former defendant in the McMartin Pre-School molestation case testified Thursday that she never saw either of the remaining defendants “touch any child in the genital area for what appeared to be for purposes of sexual gratification.”

Asked by a defense attorney whether she ever had the slightest suspicion that molestation might be going on, Babette Spitler replied, “No, I would have reported it.”

Spitler, 41, who has two children who attended McMartin and recently adopted a third, taught at the Manhattan Beach nursery school on and off from 1973 until it closed in January, 1984. After her arrest and preliminary hearing, she was ordered to stand trial on four counts involving two children, but charges against her were dropped in early 1986.

She said she never saw either Raymond Buckey or his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, who are charged with 65 counts of molestation and conspiracy, take children off the school grounds except for routine field trips. Nor did she observe naked games, picture-taking, animal mutilation, or any other inappropriate activity during her tenure there, she said.

Spitler, who was called as a witness by the defense, told the jury she watched Ray Buckey dig a grave for a dead turtle but did not know how it met its end. She will resume testifying on Monday.