500 Marchers Protest Verdict in McMartin Case

Several hundred residents, some pushing strollers and carrying signs and bumper stickers declaring “We Believe the Children,” marched through the streets of downtown Manhattan Beach Saturday evening to protest the not-guilty verdicts 10 days ago in the McMartin Pre-School case.

Organizers said they planned the “children’s rights” protest soon after a Superior Court jury ended the 6-year-old case by clearing Ray Buckey and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, of 52 child molestation charges. The jurors could not reach a verdict on 13 other charges.

“The crime that occurred inside the courtroom was almost equal to the crime that occurred outside the courtroom,” Tim Wheeler, the father of two former McMartin pupils, told about 500 cheering supporters at a rally after the mile-long march.

Wheeler said parents have not lost faith in their children and continue to believe that they were abused at McMartin and other South Bay preschools closed in the face of child molestation allegations in the early 1980s. A major question during the lengthy McMartin case became the degree of reliability of evidence taken from children.

The marchers began at the Manhattan Beach police station, where the child molestation allegations against Buckey, his mother and others at McMartin first were reported.

Joggers and bicyclists on the Strand and patrons of the crowded cafes along Manhattan Beach Boulevard shouted encouragement to the marchers. The dozens of children in the group tied pink and yellow ribbons on fire hydrants, street signs and car door handles along the route.

“I think the jury did what they thought was best,” said protest spokeswoman Elizabeth Aleccia. “I think the judge did an excellent job too. I think the system itself is what failed. It made the children feel like they were to blame.”

Aleccia said her daughter, 14, was molested several years ago at another Manhattan Beach preschool that is now closed. The girl “felt physically ill” when she heard the verdicts, Aleccia said.

Christine O’Rourke of Redondo Beach said that, even though she does not have children, she attended the march because she is tired of young people being mishandled by the courts.

“When I heard the verdict I could hardly breathe,” O’Rourke said. “This march is not aimed at putting this case behind us. We’re ensuring that it doesn’t happen again.”