McMartin

The McMartin preschool case, the longest and most expensive criminal trial in American history at its conclusion in 1990. Began in August 1983 with an allegation by a single parent in Manhattan Beach, California. The investigation expanded through suggestive interviewing at Children’s Institute International (CII) to dozens of children describing abuse with ritual elements. The trial produced no convictions; Ray Buckey was acquitted on all charges and the remaining counts dismissed after the jury deadlocked. The case became the canonical reference point of the 1980s Satanic Panic.