How an altar, candle, decapitated baby and 'the goat man' sparked one of the most bizarre child sex abuse scandals in US history

The McMartin preschool trial held in Los Angeles in the '80s featured claims of child molestation, bestiality and satanic rituals, and is largely considered one of the biggest wastes of resources in US judiciary history.

Prosecuted by then-Los Angeles District Attorney Ira Reiner, it surrounded a daycare in scenic Manhattan Beach, and claims from a parent who painted it as a den of debauchery and sin.

The family-run school once had an impeccable reputation before more than 360 children would come forward to make sex abuse claims of their own.

However, the case ended with zero convictions.

The legal drama that ensued started with a story centered around altars, candles, a decapitated baby, and a so-called 'goat man,' before it became of the most expensive criminal case of all time.

The McMartin preschool trial was an infamous sexual abuse case held in California the '80s, surrounding a daycare in scenic Manhattan Beach, and claims from a parent who painted it as a den of debauchery and sin

'My 2-year-old son has been molested at the McMartin Preschool,' claimed local mother-of-two Judy Johnson, in testimony that claimed one of the school's teachers had sodomized her two-year-old son

'My 2-year-old son has been molested at the McMartin Preschool,' local mother-of-two Judy Johnson said in her testimony that claimed one of the school's teachers, Ray Buckey, had sodomized her two-year-old son.

Johnson told cops her son had come home one afternoon with a rash on his backside. She said he was suffering from rectal bleeding. 

He also had painful bowel movements, she claimed - leading her to take him to a pediatrician out of fear he had been sexually abused.   

The doctor 'found something consistent with molestation,' she said - a diagnosis that led her to her speak with police.

Interviewed by Detective Jane Hoag, the child identified Buckey, who had worked at the school founded by Buckey's grandmother Virginia McMartin for two years, as his attacker, which led to his arrest. 

What ensued was a costly probe, which included cops' searching of 37 cars, 11 residences, seven businesses, three churches, two airports and a farm only to come away with no physical evidence

Still, the case continued, before eventually earning the reputation as one of the biggest wastes of the resources in US judiciary history

One of the primary defendants was Ray Buckey, a staffer who spent five years in prison despite not being convicted of any crime

Due to a lack of evidence, he was released the same day - a development that was met with even more allegations from Johnson.

Detailed in a letter to Reiner, she said her son had taken part in secret satanic rituals held at the school.

The letter claimed her son told her two other children in his class had also been abused by Buckey as well, and that a number of the school's staffers were having sex with animals. 

The local police department responded by sending a letter to 200 other parents of McMartin Students, asking them to question their children about whether they had witnessed similar activity.

An excerpt read: 'Please 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.

'Our investigation indicates that possible criminal 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,' the letter went on, before mentioning the then-sole suspect.

'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.'

More than 360 children would come forward to make sex abuse claims of their own, but the case ended with zero convictions

Johnson told cops her son had come home one afternoon with a rash on his backside. She said he was suffering from rectal bleeding

He also had painful bowel movements, she claimed - spurring her to take him to a pediatrician out of fear he had been sexually abused

The doctor 'found something consistent with molestation', she said - a diagnosis that led her to her parlay with police

The letter's contents quickly spawned outrage - as well as panic within the small beach community.

Town hall meetings were held, and panicked parents went to authorities - all as rumors of secret tunnels, unauthorized field trips, orgies at carwashes and parking lots, and secret sex from swirled.

By spring of next year, the parents of more than 360 children had come forward.

Startlingly strange allegations from the children included Buckey 'flying' in the classroom before taking one child to meet a shrouded figure known only as the 'goat man.'

One child even claimed Buckey took another child to a house where he let lions roam free, one kid said, and animal sacrifices- some involving a horse and rabbits, others other classroom pets - were committed.

The student said they were performed by McMartin teachers wearing robes and masks in a candle-lit ceremony at St. Cross Episcopal Church.

Other students wildly recalled how teachers and students would also allegedly visit a cemetery to routinely dig up bodies, and children were 'flushed' down toilets to sewer rooms for abuse.

Children said they were also regularly transported to off-site abuse locations in a hot air balloon, and one bizarrely identified Hollywood actor Chuck Norris from a photograph as someone they believed to be present for some of the abuse.

In a letter to District Attorney Ira Reiner, she said her son had taken part in clandestine satanic ritual practices held at the school. The letter claimed her son told her two other kids in his class had also been abused by Buckey, and that a number of staffers were having sex with animals

Despite the impossible nature of some of the claims, they ended up indicting seven staffers that March, with several members of the McMartin family singled out.

Employees Mary Ann Jackson, Babette Spitler and Betty Raidor were also pegged as defendants, and as a collective, the group was hit with 115 counts of molestation.

The number of charges rose to 321 soon after, all stemming from testimony from 48 different children.

After a 20-month preliminary hearing, charges were dropped against Virginia, Peggy Ann, Jackson, Spitler and Raidor, after prosecutors determined there was insufficient evidence to take the cases against them to trial.

One prosecutor branded the purported evidence 'incredibly weak', leaving behind Buckey and Peggy McMartin, Virginia's daughter, and the main administrator of McMartin Preschool. She was also the mother of Buckey.

Johnson reported Peggy had taken her son to a church, where the boy supposedly saw a baby beheaded. Peggy then allegedly forced the boy to drink the dead baby’s blood, and stick his finger in the anus of a goat. 

Both faced 65 counts of molestation as a result, paving way for the next saga in the sordid proceedings, which would cost California taxpayers roughly $15 million over the course of seven years.

That did not include the cost of cops' searching of 37 cars, 11 residences, seven businesses, three churches, two airports and a farm only to come away with no physical evidence. Still, the case continued.

the McMartin Preschool, founded by matriarch Virginia McMartin, was one of the most sought after schools in the district. Virginia was Buckey's maternal grandmother, and at one point, a defendant

Peggy McMartin, Virginia's daughter, and the main administrator of McMartin Preschool, is seen here outside court in January 1990, after she too was exonerated. Johnson had Peggy had taken her son to a church, where the boy supposedly saw a baby beheaded

At the time, Peggy's bail was set at an astounding $1 million, whereas Buckey was denied the option altogether.

A total of three years of testimony would ensue - after authorities had already excavated the school's yard to find only a series of plywood boxes that the children allegedly crawled through during playtime instead of the aforementioned tunnels.

By 1990, Peggy McMartin was acquitted on all counts, while Buckey was cleared of 52 out of 65 and finally released on bail. He had spent five years in prison.

But his plight was not over, as nine of 11 jurors told reporters that they still believed the kids had been molested, but could not peg Buckey as the one responsible. 

Eleven out of the overall 13 elected to acquit Buckey, but the two who remained defiant spurred a mistrial. 

He would be re-tried on the remaining 13 counts, but within six months, he was cleared of all of them.

Meanwhile, Johnson, the woman responsible for the initial allegations, would never appear or speak at any of the hearings.    

Unmasked as an alcoholic and schizophrenic, she was found dead in her apartment on December 19, 1986.

Within six months, Buckey was cleared of all charges as well, putting the dubious case to bed. It cost LA County at least $15million to prosecute, and is widely considered a failure. Buckey attended law school after the trial, and changed his name and moved to the Northwest

She died from a 'metamorphosis of the liver,' and experts later said it was her mental instability and the later impact it may have had on her perceptions that led to the costly probe.

It also led to one of the longest and most expensive legal cases of all time, as it was later revealed that Johnson had claimed her dog had also been sodomized by the McMartin family - and that her estranged husband had also raped one of their children.

Experts have since questioned the interrogation techniques used by social workers enlisted to do so, claiming the kids were coerced into making some of the statements.

Meanwhile, the McMartin preschool that graced the neighborhood for years has since been closed, dismantled in 1990 as several of the accused have since died. 

In 2005, one of the male accusers retracted their allegations, telling local news outlets, 'Never did anyone do anything to me, and I never saw them doing anything. I said a lot of things that didn't happen. I lied.

'Anytime I would give them an answer that they didn't like, they would ask again and encourage me to give them the answer they were looking for,' he continued of the interviewing practices that launched the contentious case.

'I felt uncomfortable and a little ashamed that I was being dishonest. But at the same time, being the type of person I was, whatever my parents wanted me to do, I would do.'

Buckey attended law school in the wake of the trial, and changed his name and moved to the Northwest. Both his mother and grandmother have passed, in 2000 and 1995, respectively.