McMartin Pupil, 10, Tells of Bizarre Rite : Forced to Drink Blood, Witness Claims

A 10-year-old boy testifying in the McMartin Pre-School molestation case said Wednesday that he was forced to drink rabbit blood in the church where he and other children had witnessed animal sacrifices during candle-lit ceremonies.

The boy also testified that defendant Raymond Buckey, 26, and two strangers were present at St. Cross Episcopal Church in Hermosa Beach when the incident occurred six years ago.

It was the first time in his 14 days on the stand that the boy had mentioned drinking blood.

Defense attorneys, who have repeatedly tried to poke holes in the fourth-grader’s testimony, contended that the boy was suggestible and had picked up the idea several days ago when asked during cross-examination if he had ever drunk cat’s blood during the rituals.

Defense Attorney Probes

Daniel Davis, Ray Buckey’s attorney, asked the child Wednesday if he was forced to drink the blood of an animal and the boy replied calmly, “Yes.”

The attorney then asked, “How did you know?”

“I saw the rabbit,” the boy said.

The attorney continued, “What color was the rabbit?”

“I don’t know,” the boy said.

“What did you drink out of?” Davis persisted.

The questioning was curtailed by Municipal Judge Aviva K. Bobb after prosecutors argued that it was irrelevant and that the evidence that might result was not worth the time needed to get it.

Argues Unsuccessfully

Forrest Latiner, the attorney for Buckey’s sister, Peggy Ann Buckey, unsuccessfully argued that such details were needed to prove that the child was fabricating the incident. The child, asked during his testimony last week about the cat’s blood, had responded in the negative.

“It’s curious that now after not a word about drinking blood, he remembers drinking it,” Latiner said.

The child had previously testified that he and other children from the Manhattan Beach nursery school were taken to the church several times for candle-lit ceremonies involving moaning black-robed people and the slaughter of animals. The judge on Tuesday had ordered prosecutors to turn over a pair of rabbit ears, a black robe and a candle that sheriff’s investigators had seized during a raid last week of the home of a girlfriend of an uncharged suspect in the case.

Seven Defendants

Besides Peggy Ann Buckey and her brother Ray, those accused in 208 counts of molestation and conspiracy involving 41 preschoolers are school founder Virginia McMartin, 77; her daughter Peggy McMartin Buckey, 58; Betty Raidor, 65; Mary Ann Jackson, 57, and Babette Spitler, 36.

The preliminary hearing is being held to determine whether they should stand trial.