Review of "They Must Be Monsters: A Modern-Day Witch Hunt. The untold story behind the McMartin phenomenon: The longest, most expensive criminal case in U.S. History" by Matthew Leroy & Deric Haddad

In the latter part of 1983, a kind of mass hysteria descended on the city of Manhattan Beach in southern California.



It started on August 12, 1983, when a woman named Judy Johnson accused 25-year-old preschool aide Ray Buckey of molesting her toddler son Mitchell at the McMartin Preschool.


Ray Buckey


McMartin Preschool

Judy reported the abuse to Detective Jane Hoag of the Manhattan Beach Police Department (MBPD), and Hoag arranged for Mitchell to be examined by pediatricians who were 'child abuse experts.' The doctors' report stated: "It appears the boy's anus was forcibly entered....he's been sodomized." After further investigation, Detective Hoag's report stated that Ray Buckey had "inflicted injury, bound and gagged his victim, and committed forcible sodomy."



Fearful that the molestation extended well beyond little Mitchell, the MBPD mailed 200 letters to families whose children attended (or had attended) the McMartin school. The letter asked parents to "question your child to see if he or she has been a witness to any crime or if he or she has been a victim." The letter listed the possible criminal acts under investigation: "[The acts include] oral sex, fondling of genitals, buttock or chest area, and sodomy, possibly committed under the pretense of taking the child's temperature. Also photos may have been taken of children without their clothing. Any information from your child regarding having ever observed Ray Buckey to leave a classroom alone with a child during any nap period, or if they have ever observed Ray Buckey tie up a child, is important."

Before long scores of panicked parents were taking their children to the Children's Institute International in Los Angeles (CII) - an agency for the treatment of abused children.



At CII the youngsters were physically examined for signs of abuse, and interviewed by therapists. Almost all the children reported that they were molested, and the medical examinations backed them up.




Therapists used puppets to interview the children

Moreover, the abuse allegedly extended well beyond Ray Buckey. The children implicated ALL the teachers at McMartin Preschool, and seven people were suspected of belonging to a Satanic cult that molested children. The youngsters also reported that the adults killed animals (and even babies) in front of them, and threatened to kill their parents if they told.



Before long the accusations spread to other preschools in the area, and the suspicion spread that the toddler schools were part of a pedophile/Satanist ring that did horrific things to children while adults took pictures and made films.


Outraged parents and community members

The police had a field day with this. They raided preschools in three counties and obtained warrants to search the homes of all the implicated teachers. This resulted in the closure of several preschools.....and many people who didn't even know Ray Buckey lost their jobs and reputations.

Though no evidence of any kind was ever found (no photos; no films; no bones of dead animals or babies), preliminary hearings began in June, 1984 and lasted for eighteen months. As a result, charges were dropped against everyone except Ray Buckey and his mother Peggy McMartin Buckey, who ran the McMartin preschool.




Peggy Buckey and Ray Buckey

Ray and Peggy Buckey were put on trial, and both defendants were acquitted on 52 counts of child abuse. The jury, however, was deadlocked on 13 additional counts against Ray. Ray was retried, and the jury was deadlocked once again - though the majority of jurors thought he was not guilty. The prosecution decided not to proceed and Ray was set free.



In the end the state had spent 7 years and 15 million dollars on the McMartin case and obtained no convictions. In addition, most experts now agree that NONE of the charges were true.

So what happened? The authors of this book, Matthew LeRoy and Deric Haddad try to explain.


Matthew LeRoy and Deric Haddad

In the 1980s, LeRoy and Haddad were attending San Diego State University. They knew consultants for the Buckey defense team and thought the case would make a good college research paper. So LeRoy and Haddad took leaves of absence from school and spent three years interviewing people in the Manhattan Beach area, including parents of 'abused children'; extended family members; teachers accused of child molestation; prosecutors; defense lawyers; friends of the McMartins; enemies of the McMartins; and so on. LeRoy and Haddad collected filing cabinets full of material, but didn't complete their book until now.

No one can really explain the hysteria that gripped Manhattan Beach in the 1980s, or why people believed the children's absurd stories. Kids reported seeing people fly; being transported in airplanes; being molested at locations all over town in a single morning; being abused in underground tunnels; having to sing while they were being molested; being forced to dance naked; and much more. How could all this be going on for years with no townspeople - and no parents - noticing.

It's now known that the therapists who examined the youngsters used incorrect methods, such as asking  leading questions; putting ideas in the children's heads; and refusing to take no for an answer - that is, badgering the children until they agreed they were abused. Once the children admitted they were molested, doctors found 'physical evidence' to support the claims.

LeRoy and Haddad believe the whole shebang revolves around Judy Johnson, who was the first person to report child abuse. Judy - an alcoholic who was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia - was in the midst of a contentious divorce when she accused Ray Buckey of hurting her son Mitchell. Judy also had an older son with terminal cancer, which undoubtedly contributed to her problems.



The writers obtained a garbage bag full of Judy's scribblings and writings from her father, and it appears that Judy's delusions convinced her that a Satanic cult was operating in Manhattan Beach.

The authors note: "The contents of the garbage bag embodied Judy’s experience. Each notation symbolized her mindset—a jumble of disbanded thoughts and emotions, confined to a single chamber, howling to escape, to be heard.....They came together into a sensible time-line: the paradigm of a schizophrenic in decline, where her misguided fear was the microcosm of the community around her."

Written notes of Judy Johnson

Calendar page of Judy Johnson from the month she reported child abuse

When the community joined in the hysteria, Judy relished being the center of attention and egged things on. Of course things soon spiraled out of control.

LeRoy and Haddad's creative non-fiction describes the McMartin case (and another Manhattan Beach child abuse case) from the first accusations of child abuse through the subsequent trials. The authors also elucidate Judy's life and state of mind from the years 1983 through 1986, when she died from alcohol poisoning.

I wanted to know what happened to the overzealous police, prosecutors, doctors, psychologists, etc. who were instrumental in promoting the 'Salem Witch Trial' atmosphere in southern California. The McMartin debacle caused irreparable harm to many people, including the children, and there should have been consequences. The authors don't go into this however.

This is a fascinating look at a bizarre incident that could probably happen anywhere to almost anyone. Highly recommended to people interested in the subject.

Rating: 4 stars