To the editor: As a journalist, I covered the McMartin Preschool case for five years for various magazines. While I am relieved to see that most media outlets have finally seen the light on this case and now identify it as a gross miscarriage of justice, I remain shocked by the complete lack of accountability of those who perpetrated this fraud. (“Wild claims of mass child sexual abuse rocked a Los Angeles beach town. Truth was the first victim,” July 17)
As the Times article describes it, the case involves “the epic failure of trusted institutions: law enforcement, the courts, the world of child therapy and the media.”
The McMartin defendants lost more than their preschool and their reputations. They lost their homes, their savings, their freedom and became “monsters” who had rocks thrown through their windows and threatened to kill them. Defendant Ray Buckey was held in solitary confinement without bail for five years.
Her sister's hair was set on fire as she was riding to court with other inmates in a sheriff's truck.
And yet, to this day, even though it is now known that they were innocent victims of hysteria, greed and incompetence, no authority has stepped forward and done anything for the McMartin family to right this great injustice. That is shameful.
Mary A. Fischer, Los Angeles
