Tunnel Precursors

The history that begins in the next section of this report shows how the McMartin tunnels legend grew amidst the hysteria touched off by Judy Johnson's police report and the actions of police investigators, therapists, the news media and district attorneys. An examination of the MTP report will show that it may indeed offer "unprecedented dimensions of truth," but that it does not offer proof that tunnels ever existed underneath the McMartin preschool. It has already been noted that there were tunnels at the McMartin preschool, but they were not discovered by Dr. Stickel's excavation.

The sources cited below, unless otherwise noted, are from copies of notes and reports made by investigators for various law enforcement agencies involved with the case. All documents and reports noted in this article (including the MTP report by Dr. Stickel) as well as photographs are filed at the Institute for Psychological Therapies and are available to researchers for inspection.