Buckey Takes the Stand, Denies Abusing Children

Taking the stand in his own defense Monday, McMartin Pre-School teacher Ray Buckey denied that he ever molested, threatened or otherwise harmed a child--just as he testified at his first trial.

The jury listened impassively as the 32-year-old defendant took the stand at his retrial on eight counts left unresolved by an earlier jury. He answered mostly “no” and “never” when questioned by his attorney about accusations made by three girls who attended his family’s Manhattan Beach nursery school.

One by one, Buckey denied the allegations. He also denied alleged improprieties listed by the Manhattan Beach Police Department in a letter sent to hundreds of McMartin parents in the fall of 1983.

The three girls, now adolescents, testified earlier that Buckey sexually abused them during naked “games,” then ensured their silence by threatening to kill their parents and by mutilating rabbits or turtles to make his point.

The former teacher said he was drawn to working with children because “I liked kids . . . they’re more honest than adults,” and “it looked pretty easy.”

“There’s no question I could ask (to which) you would say you molested a child, is there?” he was asked by Deputy Dist. Atty. Pam Ferrero at the start of a fast-paced, often hostile cross-examination.

“I’m not going to because I didn’t,” Buckey answered adamantly.

“You didn’t admit you were a child molester when you testified last time, did you?” she pressed.

“I didn’t because I’m not,” he replied, his voice rising.

The first day of testimony from Buckey echoed that of his first trial. The jury in that three-year proceeding acquitted him in January of 40 molestation counts, but said it could not agree on 13 others. Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner decided to retry Buckey on eight of the undecided counts.

This time, however, Buckey’s testimony is expected to conclude in less than two days, compared to eight at his first trial. So far, it has been devoid of the inquiries into his personal life that characterized his earlier examination, with little revealed about the quiet young man except a penchant for going without underwear and an interest in body-building and volleyball. At the first trial, both sides made much of his sexual encounter with a woman at a Tahoe motel and explored his admitted drinking problem.

Sunburned and dressed in a gray business suit, Buckey spoke in a low, flat voice, giving one-word answers and volunteering little.

“Are you a little nervous right now?” his attorney, Danny Davis, asked.

“Very nervous,” Buckey said.

Outside court, Davis commented on Buckey’s wooden demeanor. “He’s facing a test, a horrible test,” the attorney said. “He can’t do much but deny, try to control his nervousness and hope the jury can get some sense of the guy.”

Davis said the defense will rest its case this week and predicted all testimony could end as early as the middle of next week.

It has been seven years since Buckey’s legal ordeal began. Since 1983, he has been arrested twice, endured a preliminary hearing and trial that broke records for length and cost, and spent five years in county jail. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 22 years in state prison. A movie based on his life is already planned.