McMartin Prosecutors Wind Up Case

Prosecutors concluded their closing arguments Wednesday in the record-breaking McMartin Pre-School molestation trial, urging jurors to convict two former teachers of molesting 11 of their pupils.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Pounders will instruct the jury of eight men and four women this afternoon, after which deliberations will begin.

The proceeding, now in its third year, is the longest and costliest criminal trial in U.S. history. Since first being filed in 1984, the case has cost Los Angeles County residents more than $15 million.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lael Rubin, in her final summation, urged the jury to believe the children who claimed that they were molested by former preschool teachers Raymond Buckey, 31, and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, 62.

She also urged the panel to convict the two defendants of one count of conspiracy and 64 counts of child molestation for allegedly sexually abusing 11 of their pupils at the now-closed Virginia McMartin Pre-School in Manhattan Beach from 1978 until 1983.

“I submit to you that the children have told the truth,” Rubin said. “They bottled it up inside for a long time, but they had the courage to sit up on that witness stand and recount how they were molested by Raymond and Peggy Buckey at the McMartin Pre-School.

“What these teachers did to these children is really unfathomable,” the prosecutor said. “It’s hard to believe. But behind the facade of what was supposed to be a loving, kind preschool was a place that was really pretty horrible.”

If convicted, the Buckeys could be sent to state prison for the rest of their lives.

Defense attorneys, who have steadfastly maintained their clients’ innocence, concluded their closing arguments last week.

The defense essentially argued that the children were manipulated by prosecution social workers into falsely claiming that they were molested.

When filed in 1984, the case was the largest molestation case in U.S. history. Since then, however, scores of charges and five co-defendants have been dismissed because of insufficient evidence.