Hysteria Spreads

Between November, 1983 and March 1984, 360 former McMartin children were diagnosed as abused by CII interviewers and examiners. As parents reacted to the police letter and the results of the child interviews, rumors spread throughout the community, severely damaging the reputation of the school and its operators. Some parents, following MacFarlane's advice, began to drive their children through the community to look for other perpetrators. Bob Currie was probably the most active of those parents. He appointed himself as a quasi official investigator of the case and became convinced that the McMartin employees were part of a satanic conspiracy. He persuaded other parents whose children had not complained of molestation to take their children to CII, telling them that their children had been identified as victims in interviews with other children.¹⁸

The rumors about McMartin took a heavy toll on the school's reputation, causing enrollment to plummet and forcing Virginia McMartin and Peggy Buckey to close its doors for good — after 28 years of community service — on January 13, 1984.