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This day in crime

01.18.1990

McMartin preschool sexual abuse trial ends in acquittals

Photo: Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag

01.18.1990

In 1983, a mother reported that her son had been molested at the McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach, California, kicking off a nationwide panic about daycare safety. The case also revealed problems with suggestive child interview techniques as kids at the preschool made bizarre and unsubstantiated claims about Satanic rituals and underground tunnels. Following a trial that lasted three years and cost $15 million, school administrator Peggy McMartin Buckey was acquitted on all charges; her teacher son Ray Buckey, acquitted on most criminal counts, ultimately had all remaining charges against him dismissed.

Photo: Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
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