The Salem Witch Trials V. The Mcmartin Preschool Trial

Gavin Mills once said, “If there were ever such a thing as a unique opinion, history would probably be less inclined to repeat itself.” Centuries, or even millenniums, before most of the world’s current population were even thought of being conceived, it was-and in fact, still is- known that one small accusation, especially one that is built upon by a community, can change the course of history and can forever-harshly-impact the lives of others. This is primarily prevalent in the Salem Witchcraft Trials and The McMartin Preschool Trial. In both trials, history has appeared to repeat itself on the basis of a public, non-unique opinion, whether true or false, that has sparked a conflict within its society.

The infamous Salem Witch Trials were a series of investigations, prosecutions, and ultimately executions, of people, that were undeniably innocent, who were accused of witchcraft and other various devil practices in pre-revolutionary Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. These trials concluded with the execution of 20 people-all but one by hanging- after a group of young girls in the Salem Village claimed their bodies, and souls, to be possessed by the Devil, and implied that several local men and women were responsible on accounts of witchcraft. The McMartin Preschool Trial, similar to the Salem Witch Trials, was the longest and most expensive criminal trials in American history, with its expenses totaling upwards of fifteen million dollars. To be more descriptive, the McMartin Preschool Trial was a daycare sexual abuse investigation originating in 1983 and lasting until 1990, in which members of the McMartin family, who operated the daycare, were burdened with multiple charges of sexual abuse on children who they regularly had in their care. Although they took place many centuries apart, both the McMartin Preschool Abuse Trial and The Salem Witch Trials, have proven to contain multiple, scarily comparable, similarities. Some of those similarities include the fact that testimonies within the two trials were based solely on children, and likewise, in both instances, the public dealt with some form of devil practice. However, the two trials do have one major difference: while over 200 people were accused and convicted during the Witch Trials, The Preschool Trial ultimately led to no convictions. The trials also confirm the stereotype of just how easily history can repeat itself as a result of a single accusation, and show how easily society and its opinions can be swayed.

Among the many similarities, both the Salem Witch Trials and the McMartin Preschool Trial, one of the most prevalent-and perhaps one of the most important-is that the entirety of the testimonies within the trials were based solely on children. Of the first afflicted, during the Salem Witch Trials, was ten year old Betty Parris, daughter of Salem Village’s own Reverend Samuel Parris. It is noted that Betty began behaving strangely in January 1692-after some of the other, soon to be afflicted girls dabbled in fortune telling the winter prior-when she began to hide under furniture, bark like a dog, complained of fever, and at random increments, tended to scream and cry out in pain. However it was not much longer after Betty’s misfortune, that seventeen year old Abigail Williams also claimed to have been experiencing the same symptoms. Samuel Parris, after hearing of a similar incident to the one his daughter had previously experienced, became sickened with worry and called for a local doctor to examine the girls. The doctor, however, was not able to find any physical evidence of anything being wrong with the children, and ultimately determined they must have been bewitched. After being diagnosed, Abigail accused Tituba-her uncle’s foreign slave-of bewitching her. It must also be noted that the oldest and youngest ages of the afflicted children are eighteen and ten. As a kickstart to the McMartin Preschool Trial, allegations of child sexual abuse in daycare centers swept the nation. Dozens of preschool aged children were affected by sodomization and rape. To make matters even worse, the original child whose mother-Judy Johnson-sparked the trial by accusing Ray Buckey-employee of the McMartin family daycare-of sexually abusing her child, was only two-and-a-half years old. Although some may have been more affected than others, along with interviews, one hundred and fifty children received medical examinations, and eighty percent of that congregation of children showed to have endured molestation, all while not even being old enough to attend kindergarten.

Along with being subject to torture and abuse, the children impacted by the events that took place within both the Salem Witch Trials and The McMartin Preschool Trial, were also subject to witnessing or enduring Devil practices; which is another common factor that both of the aforementioned trials share. Both the defendants and the plaintiffs of the Salem Witch Trials dealt with witchcraft in one way or another. Witchcraft-in the time period that the trial took place-by definition of the authorities of the town, was identified as worshipping the Devil and sending one’s own spirit upon others with intentions to harm or posses them. The witches-as they were called-in Salem, were accused of practicing the so-called witchcraft and, before the court, admitted to having direct confrontations with the Devil. On a different level of severity, The McMartin Preschool Trial also dealt with practices relating to the Devil. In many consecutive reports related to the daycare trial, many parents and children made allegations of horrific practices, with the Devil often plainly stated in the details. Judy Johnson, the mom of a victim of the abuse, claimed that daycare co-operator, Peggy McMartin Buckey was involved in satanic practices. Peggy was said to have taken Johnson’s son to a church, where he was forced to watch a baby being beheaded, and then he was forced to drink the blood, or, in other words, was forced to participate in a gory satanic ritual.

In most situations, allegations of a similar severity to the ones recorded during both The Salem Witch Trials and The McMartin Preschool Trial, lengthy convictions, or even convictions lasting a lifetime, would be made, and, in terms of the Salem Witch Trials, this was true. On the other hand, though very otherworldly, the accusations brought to light in The McMartin Preschool Trial ultimately led to no convictions. The Salem Witch Trials are known to be a volatile, as well as dangerous situation that resulted in the imprisonment of handfuls of innocent people. Over two-hundred Salem citizens were accused of witchcraft during the trials, however only between one-hundred-forty and one-hundred-fifty people were actually arrested for witchcraft during the witch hunt. It was even found that four people passed away in prison while awaiting their trials. In regards to the McMartin Preschool Trial, nobody else was as greatly affected as Ray Buckey, one of the main defendants in the case, who spent five years in jail while awaiting trial for a crime, that was proven, he did not commit.

Although Buckey did spend time in jail before the case ceased, the trial ultimately led to no convictions as a result, because, as said by juror Brenda Williams, the case became easily misinterpreted and blown out of proportion which led to the conclusion that Buckey was innocent, and did not have to serve (more) time in jail. Whether it takes three years or three hundred years, there will always be situations and trends that repeat throughout time. The outcomes of these repeated situations can vary, however, because over time, societal norms and taboos change, along with its opinions. Although the end result of said situations may differ from each other, as the events play out they resemble each other in an undeniable way. Because of the trials of the McMartin Preschool and Salem witchcraft, lives were lost, the innocent were deceived, and the course of American history was changed forever.