Jury’s Not Guilty Verdict in McMartin Pre-School Case

Having observed the McMartin fiasco unfold firsthand and being familiar with many of the parents, doctors and therapists in the case, I would like to add my criticism to the retrospective you have been doing on the media’s coverage of the case.

In my opinion, one of the greatest problems with the media was their tunnel vision after the case went to trial. Lost in their myopia was the fact that hundreds of children who did not choose to testify (many with definitive medical signs of sexual abuse) ultimately disclosed/alleged they were abused at the preschool.

Because reporters focused almost entirely on the prosecution witnesses and the therapists at the Children’s Institute International (CII), the broader context of the story was lost.

For example, it was not widely reported nor was it often reiterated that many children who alleged abuse at the preschool did so to doctors and therapists (some outside the state) with no connection whatsoever to CII. This, I would think, was and is a very important part of a story where the “inexperienced and poorly trained” therapists at CII are now being blamed for botching the case or somehow conspiring to “program” the children they interviewed.

Unfortunately, in this and a number of other instances The Times and most other media covering the story were “out chasing rabbits while the elephants got away.”

I wonder if you would be doing so much hand-wringing if they had been found guilty?

BRAD SALES

Sierra Madre