McMartin Boy, 9, Weeps During Cross-Examination

A 9-year-old boy broke into tears during cross-examination in the McMartin Pre-School molestation hearing Thursday as a defense attorney confronted him about apparent inconsistencies.

The child, allegedly molested at the Manhattan Beach school from 1978 to 1981, had to be excused from the courtroom for about 30 minutes because he was too upset to continue.

Earlier Thursday, the boy testified that he had served as a lookout for the key defendant in the case. He said that he once warned the man that parents were coming to the nursery school while students were being fondled.

Confronted About Statements

The crying incident occurred as Daniel Davis, the attorney for key defendant Raymond Buckey, was confronting the boy about statements the child made to a therapist last year that conflicted with his court testimony.

Davis read portions of a transcript of an interview in which the boy told the therapist that no sexual touching occurred while he attended the school. The boy also told the therapist that he and Buckey were not naked when they played the “horsy game.”

The boy, the fourth of 41 children expected to testify in the preliminary hearing for seven defendants in the case, has testified that he was molested by Buckey while playing the game.

Davis also reminded the boy that he had told a therapist he didn’t remember the “naked movie star game,” although he testified before a grand jury and in court that he had played the game.

“What made you remember the ‘naked movie star game?’ ” Davis asked.

The boy then started crying, and the hearing was recessed.

Davis repeated the question when court resumed, and the boy replied: “My mom asked me if I remembered anything else, and I did.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Glenn Stevens said the boy had told the therapist later that he remembered some of the games. Stevens said that the child cried at the hearing because he was frustrated.

‘Didn’t Have a Chance’

“He didn’t have a chance to say he did play the game,” Stevens said. “He (Davis) wanted the child to do exactly what he did.

“It comes down to a grown adult picking on a 9-year-old child.”

Davis denied that, saying: “I’m not out to harass this child. I’m out to find the truth. We do not know the truth about this boy.”

After the boy was excused, Davis played a videotape of portions of the interview with the therapist.

The boy, who carried a stuffed animal to court, testified earlier that he and a classmate were instructed by Buckey to climb atop some playground equipment at the nursery school and watch for visitors.

“I ran in and warned Ray somebody was coming,” the boy said. He also said that he believed Buckey was fondling some students inside the facility while he served as a lookout.

The boy, known as John Doe No. 3, also has testified that his former teachers, Peggy McMartin Buckey, 58, the school’s founder; Virginia McMartin, 77, and Betty Raidor, 65, watched as some of the “naked games” were played inside a classroom.

Also charged in the case are Peggy Ann Buckey, 28; Mary Ann Jackson, 57, and Babette Spitler, 36.

The preliminary hearing, now in its seventh month, will determine whether the defendants will be tried in Superior Court.