Voting Station

Kee MacFarlane

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Advocate

The Resume

    (1947- )
    Birth name was Kathleen MacFarlane
    Director of Children's Institute International
    Figure in the McMartin preschool trial (1983-90)
    Used puppets and anatomically correct dolls for children to use during interviews concerning acts of alleged sexual abuse from teachers

Why she might be annoying:

    She identified as a children's behavioral therapist but lacked any professional licenses.
    She was a conspiracy theorist during the 'Satanic panic' of the 1980's.
    She testified before Congress that she believed there was an organized, nationwide conspiracy of individuals and 'orthodox satanic groups' sexually abusing children (but presented no evidence or proof to back these claims up).
    Her interview technique for the McMartin school kids was criticized as highly suggestive.
    Videos of the sessions showed her asking the same question repetitively, being very explicit about the anatomy of the naked dolls with the kids, and coercing the kids into reluctantly talking about being touched inappropriately even when they said they hadn't.
    After the interviews, she stated her belief that 360 of the McMartin schoolchildren had been sexually abused.
    The result was the McMartin family, including elderly school founder Virginia McMartin, daughter Peggy, grandson Ray Buckey and his sister Peggy Ann, along with three other teachers to be arrested and charged with 321 counts of child abuse involving 48 children (March 22, 1984).
    The case lasted seven years but resulted in no convictions, and all charges were dropped in 1990, and was one of the longest, most expensive series of criminal trials in American history.
    She was revealed to have been in a relationship with reporter Wayne Satz, who was covering the McMartin case, and was accused of influencing his decision to cover her and the children's claims unobjectively.
    She was accused of making several racial and derogatory remarks about the black dolls, which she - conveniently - chose to represent Ray and Peggy.
    It was speculated that the technique led to the child interviewees being indoctrinated into group think mentality and/or forming false memories via coercion.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She got her master's degree in social work at Denison University in Ohio.
    She was portrayed by Lolita Davidovich in the 1995 movie 'Indictment: The McMartin Trial.'
    She was a lobbyist for the National Organization for Women.
    She could have had a career as a puppet lady on Public Broadcasting.
    She used her technique because she genuinely believed the kids would deny sexual abuse out of fear and needed to be coaxed into talking about it.
    Some parts of her technique are still sometimes used and effectively, but only when abuse has already been established and proven.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 21 Votes: 52.38% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 15 Votes: 66.67% Annoying