I react to the allegations of child abuse and obstruction of justice at Penn State with a certain reserve. This is not because I regard pedophilia as a victimless crime, or worship at the shrine of Joe Paterno. It is because, as a staffer at the Los Angeles Times in the 1980s, I witnessed the beginnings of the McMartin preschool case, and so was present at the creation of a strange and disturbing interlude in American history.

For the uninitiated, the McMartin preschool case involved a nursery school in Manhattan Beach, California run for several years by four generations of the McMartin family. In 1983, one mother of one student reported to the police that her son had been molested by an employee—although it was reported at the time that the child, in later interviews, disputed the allegation. But in due course the police sent a letter of inquiry to other parents, and testimony began rolling in. Students, assisted by psychologists and counselors, reported that they had been repeatedly raped, forced to watch animal mutilation, were sexually abused while flying in balloons, witnessed satanic rituals, played a game with teachers called “Naked Cowboy,” and were driven through extensive underground tunnels.