Instructing Children in the Martial Arts - Part II

“The greatest general wins without fighting,” Sun Tzu

“It’s easier to let a cat out of the bag than to get it back in.”

The mere charge of abusing a child is sufficient to ruin you, regardless of your innocence or even clearing yourself in a court of law. Your name will never be free of the taint of having been accused of molestation.

The original charge against you will appear on the front page of your local newspaper and lead off local TV newscasts. Being cleared of all charges will run in the back of the paper and in a one sentence throw-away line on your nightly news, if at all. And there will always be those who will think the police just weren’t able to prove your guilt. In their minds, you will always be guilty.

As I mentioned previously, the vast majority of instructors would not only never sexually abuse a child (or anyone else) but would strongly defend and protect their students from such things, with their very lives if necessary. But that doesn’t mean that any instructor, no matter how kind or protective of his students, can’t be charged with it, even if he did nothing wrong.

A horrible case was filed in the early 80s against the owners of a daycare center located in upscale Manhattan Beach, California. It became known as the McMartin Case. It was huge news back then and caused all instructors, teachers, and coaches to become far more careful in their interactions with their students and athletes.

The following was excerpted from Wikipedia: “The case started in August 1983 when Judy Johnson, the mother of a 2½ year-old boy reported to the police that her son was abused by Raymond Buckey at the McMartin Preschool… After seven years of criminal trials, no convictions were obtained, and all charges were dropped in 1990. As of 2006, it is the longest and most expensive criminal trial in the history of the United States. The accusations involved hidden tunnels, killing animals, Satan worship, and orgies. Judy Johnson (who made the original charge) was diagnosed with acute schizophrenia and in 1986 was found dead in her home from complications of chronic alcoholism. (She had also previously accused her ex-husband of sodomizing both their son and their dog!) Buckey and his mother Peggy McMartin were eventually released without any charges. In 2005 one of the testifying children retracted his testimony and said he lied, to protect his younger siblings and to please his parents.” The comments in parenthesis were added by me.

There is a great write-up on this fascinating case and the depth to which people sunk in an attempt to prosecute what were innocent people at the following link: http://www.religioustolerance.org/ra_mcmar.htm

None of the outlandish charges were ever proven true. They were merely fabricated by the warped mind of an insane, alcoholic woman. But the prosecutors in the case further fueled the fire and launched a witch-hunt (almost literally). Prosecutors were found to have encouraged, and even rewarded, the school’s students for saying what they wanted to hear, the more outlandish the better, when none of it had actually occurred.

The McMartins spent many years in prison before finally being cleared of all charges. They lost their business. They had to sell their homes and all their possessions to pay for their gigantic legal fees. And they are still considered guilty by many people.

It’s critical you always maintain a defensive awareness when teaching or around young students. Remember the old adage, “One encounter, one chance.” I’ll get into specific things we all need to do when teaching children in my next post. Thanks again for reading my humble ramblings.