The Abuse of Innocence: The McMartin Preschool Trial: Eberle, Paul, Eberle, Shirley: 9780879758097: Amazon.com: Books (original) (raw)
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Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2016
Great book about the false accusations against the McMartin Preschool Teachers; Ray Buckey, Peggy Ann Buckey, Peggy McMartin Buckey, Virginia McMartin, Betty Raidor, Mary Ann Jackson and Babette Spitler. Accused of Ungodly Acts against Innocent Children these 7 were eventually proven innocent but first were arrested, treated like pariahs, imprisoned, humiliated and lost everything they owned in the world thanks to Key McFarlane's manipulation of hundreds of innocent children and Lael Rubin's unethical prosecution even after the first victim disclosed that it was his father who raped him, not Ray Buckey. What happened to these poor innocent people who devoted their lives to teaching and caring for children is sickening and I am so glad that the state was never able to get even 1 Conviction
6 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2012
I ordered this book after reading Sybil Exposed as I enjoyed the HBO movie Indictment about the case. I also had a personal interest in the case as a close family member lived next to the Buckeys and was dumbfounded when all this happened.
The book is easier to read than I expected being that so much of it is taken directly from the trial transcript. The childrens' accounts of what happened to them is so incredibly outlandish it's a wonder the prosecution had the nerve to bring the case to trial, but everyone believed they were incapable of lying. The extent the state went to to prove their case is mindboggling, and a reminder of what power run amok is capable of.
After reading this book, I ordered my sister a copy, and she too, was dumbfounded at reading the children's testimony as she has a legal background.
13 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2023
Book can quickly and has very few marks of any kind on it. Happy with my purchase.
One person found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2014
I lived in SoCal during the McMartin trial and will forever remember that strange time. The book paints a chilling picture of an entire community, really all of Southern California, going absolutely batsh** crazy for several years. Satanic cults, blood sacrifice, it was like living in The Twilight Zone. It's one of the most lurid, disgusting tales of depravity most of us will ever read... and none of it ever happened. In the end, The Abuse of Innocence is really about a District Attorney's office that was more interested in headlines than in a real investigation. If only it were fiction, there wouldn't be so many ruined innocent lives. And I'm not talking about the kids.
My one complaint is that this book is just a mediocre scan of the print version, rather than a fully digitized Kindle book. Buy it in print, it'll be easier to read. 5 stars for the book itself, 3 stars for the non-kindle kindle edition.
10 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2017
A very detailed account of a significant trial in Los Angeles. I haven't been as moved by a book in many years. If one isn't angry at the District Attorney's office after reading this book, he has ice water in his veins.
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6 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2022
This has got to be one of the most interesting cases in all American history and should draw attention from everyone. But this book is so hard to follow and the authors strike me as quite biased. For instance, they'll describe a witness or an attorney and before you even know which side they're on so to speak you know how the authors feel towards them. And they used words like "classy" to describe someone they obviously like and words like "pale-faced kid" to describe someone they had a negative encounter with.
They also use past and present future interchangeably and it drives me nuts.
If you can get passed that then it's a good read. I'll definitely be looking for more reading on this specific case.
3 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2013
It was a very good book with my friend says about it i bought it for I would recommend it to anybody !
3 people found this helpful
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2012
This is an edited review. The Eberles are very convincing. I gave this book five stars believing the poor McMartins got a bad rap, even though I knew, even at the time, that ritual abuse is a very real phenomenon. I thought, well maybe someone framed the poor McMartins. I should have known better! The Eberles tell us that Judy Johnson was a schizophrenic who committed suicide before the trial was over and she over reacted when her son came home with a "red bottom." Judy Johnson did not have a mental condition of any sort. She died of alcohol poising before she was able to testify (the harassment from strangers... made her life hell, so she drank.) Her son was bleeding from his rectum and had a physical confirming that her son had been sodomized. Her son said, "Mr. Ray did it." The Eberles say her son never identified Raymond Buckey. The Eberles tell us Glenn Stevens resigned because he was disgusted with the prosecution. Stevens was caught leaking information and lying and was forced to resign. The Eberles make fun of the unlikely allegations of the children, but ignore the facts that support their strange allegations. The Eberles say there were no tunnels found beneath the school. There most certainly were. Five different scientists affirmed this. The Ebreles make fun of the fact that a lunch bag was found with a Disney picture on it and the parents over reacted. They leave out that the bag was dated 1982 and was evidence that there had been entry into the space beneath the preschool. There should not have been anything older than 1966, when the foundation was poured. There were many animal bones found as well. The children said that animals had been killed as a means to silence them, including turtles. Turtle shells were found. Yes, the children spoke of a horse being bludgeoned to death. Did you know that Virginia McMartin's sister owned a horse ranch and Raymond Buckey had a friend with a special effects studio? Nearly 80 percent of the children had physical symptoms, including blunt force trauma to sexual areas, scaring, rectal bleeding and sexual diseases. Parents were threatened and children were hospitalized for the trauma they endured. Parents and children continue to stand by their allegations, despite what the Eberles might say. And what of the Ebreles "expertise"? The Ebreles ran a tabloid for pedophiles, "Finger," with titles like "Sexpot at Five." Don't be duped by evil liars, like I was, it feels awful! If you purchase this book, be sure to get a well rounded education and try a few others. I recommend: Virtual Government: CIA Mind Control Operations in America, Psychic Dictatorship in the U.S.A., Cult and Ritual Abuse: Its History, Anthropology, and Recent Discovery in Contemporary America Revised Edition.
37 people found this helpful
Top reviews from other countries
5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2013
This Book centers around the case of the McMartin Pre school, where it was alleged that 100's of cases of child sex abuse and Satanic rituals took place, culminating in several members of the same family spending long periods of time incarcerated whilst awaiting trial and throughout the trial. It is just beyond belief that these events really happened.