Topic: MICHAEL JACKSON-SICK OR INNOCENT?

[JASON]

Pop superstar Michael Jackson will be charged with multiple counts of child molestation and has been ordered to surrender to California authorities, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson has said.
But Michael Jackson's spokesman said the allegations were false, scurrilous and totally unfounded.
"The outrageous allegations against Michael Jackson are false. Michael would never harm a child in any way. These scurrilous and totally unfounded allegations will be proven false in a courtroom," spokesman Stuart Backerman said in a statement.
"There is a warrant outstanding and in a very short period of time there will be charges filed against Mr. Jackson," Sheriff Jim Anderson said. He added bail has been set at $3 million dollars.
He and other officials declined to say if one or more children were involved. They did say, however, that they had "a cooperative victim."
Mr Anderson told reporters that Jackson had been "given an opportunity to surrender himself to Santa Barbara authorities within a specific period of time."
Jackson's spokesman Stuart Backerman said he had made arrangements with the District Attorney in Santa Barbara to return to the city from "to immediately confront and prove these charges unfounded."
Police declined to go into details or name the alleged victim or victims, but media reports have said they were brought by a 12-year-old boy.
One report said that a therapist had reported disclosures by a boy who spent time at Neverland and began therapy several months ago.
Jackson was the subject of similar allegations in 1993 and 1994 brought by a 14-year-old boy. But criminal charges were never filed, and Jackson was never arrested, because the accuser declined to testify.
Jackson later reached a multimillion-dollar out-of-court civil settlement with the boy's family.
Santa Barbara District Attorney Thomas Sneddon told the news conference that the current case was different because it involved multiple charges and "we have a cooperative victim in this particular proceeding."
He also said the laws have been tightened up in the past decade because of the Jackson case, and added that there was a public feeling that the singer had evaded prosecution last time.
Us magazine journalist Ian Drew, who has known the singer since 1998, quoted sources close to him as saying Jackson "was incredibly angry and had done nothing wrong."
He added that Jackson also wanted to make his surrender to authorities as low key and as private as possible.
Uri Geller, who is a friend of the singer, reacted with shock. He said: "It's earth shattering. I have never thought that it would come to this.
"Michael Jackson is still hotly stating his innocence through his lawyers and I think his friendship with children is perfectly innocent.
"If God forbid I'm wrong then my faith in human nature will be shaken to the core."
Mr Geller said he would now have to wait for the outcome of the case. "I hope he is innocent. I will be absolutely gutted and destroyed if he is guilty."
Before the arrest announcement Brian Oxman, a lawyer who has worked for the Jackson family, said: "Michael will cooperate ... he has never been one to dodge the law enforcement's wishes and that's just his character."
About 60 police officers searched Jackson's Neverland Ranch compound in central California on Tuesday. They removed dozens of boxes of material.

.....STORY FROM NTLWORLD.COM.


WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS?? IS HE GUILTY OR INNOCENT?

[Onehitwonder]

uuuuuummmmmmm  10-9 on that good buddy !


like some investigater said" he's delt with heaps of cases like this in his career,and has never known this
many police to turn up to any one case before !

sounds like a destroy reputation mission to me so far !

but given his weird personality,self concious,kid loving
ways,which in itself overtakes even the most dedicate
kid loving person on earth it seems...he's put himself
in a bad frame...and people will probably think it's not
out of the question,maybe for something like this to happen...   well see,but he is a freak....

[Mark_@_pbs]

I agree he is definately a freak -extemely talented with his song writing,dancing performing etc. but why is he obsessed with changing his looks, colour of skin.
Perhaps this just proves that money & fame do only lead to unhappiness and not being able to have a normal life    ( wouldn't mind having a go at it though!)

[AndyR]

It's very hard to say one way or the other because we don't know all the facts pertaining to the charges.

Micheal Jackson is a unique individual. It's understandable as to why he seems to identify with children more than adults because of his own lack of a childhood but he knows he is an adult and should be aware that there are limits - lines that should not be crossed but he is surrounded by 'yes men' who cocoon him in another world seperate from the real world.

He can't see anything wrong in the way he behaves though which is a bit disturbing because even in his alternate world, he still has access to TV, films etc... and must know just from those mediums alone that adults do not behave like children. Unless he see's himself as a child.

All I can say at this moment is that he is a man who needs help. In the real world he would probably be in some kind of psychological institute and right now I think this would be the best place for him.

[Rubikscube]

Call me an old cynic, but is there such a thing as bad publicity in the entertainment industry.
Michael Jackson has a new album out this week.He is going to be on the front page of every tabloid in the world for the next few weeks.
This will in turn helps sell albums without any promotion.

The case will be dropped before it goes to court and Michael Jackson will have sold another 5 million albums.

[JASON]

yeh but people are going to think the dirty bas**rd and not buy the album...........he has lost his fans now i think,people know what he is like,and i think this will finish his career for good!

IMO

[Onehitwonder]

should've quit when his music was good...
i certainly would'nt buy any recent ones.

[AndyR]

Rubiks - You old cynic!!!  

(Well, you did ask for it!)

Jason, you can't accuse him of being a dirty bas**rd just because of what you've seen in the media. We know nothing about what is supposed to have transpired and the media know nothing. They though are like vultures - one whiff of blood and that's it and there's nothing they like better than to bring someone down.

Rubiks brings up a good point based around media manipulation. Micheal Jackson is all over the news right now with people thinking the worst. And then, after a short period of time it may transpire that he's not guilty of anything and has no charge to answer. In the eye's of the public he's not a bad guy and to his fans, he's now almost saintly.

More record sales being the end result.

Rubiks, now that's cynical!

I don't know though.

Don't get me wrong, I've never particularly liked his music and even less him as a person. He is weird, different and needs psychiatric help but I couldn't say one way or the other if he's a kiddie fiddler.

Then again, looking at it from another angle, it could be argued that there's no smoke without fire...

===============================

Reading that lot back, I sound like a right do-gooder always looking for the best in people. I'm not!

I do though know how the media works and how stories can be reported with a certain slant, bias and selective editing of the 'facts' just to achieve a sensationalist story.

Right, I'm tired and I'm off to bed. Even though it's only 2am.

[Onehitwonder]

mmmmm selective editing,
very obvious that went on in that world famous documentry on him,that was pretty bad i thought...
and as much as i think he's from a different planet,i do
feel sorry for him with some of the stuff thats happened
to him......the media- a bunch of bored,inconsiderate
bunch of f.....wits,with corrupt personality's pre meditate
their every move to destroy people,there really should
be tougher laws out there,those so called people
deserve everything that comes to em.....aaahhh.

[Cleo]

We can assume you're not a journalist then OHW?

[Onehitwonder]

no...lol
i'd like to do some of the work on international reporting
and stuff,not that bottom of the barrel sh*t,as long as
i'm myself and not a c..khead just to get somewhere !


you'll have to excuse me...too many vodka's  

[JASON]

too many vodkas at 9.20 in the morning ??

that is a bad drinking problem..........lol

The documentary showed that he slept with boys in his bedroom and the boy that has accused him was in the documentary as well,and he said he slept in jacksons bed and jackson slept on the floor,come on anyone that sleeps on a hard floor gets up during the night and gets into bed,its all about security!!
Like i say no smoke without fire,there must be something there,just look 10 years ago with jordy chandler(accusing him)and jackson paid him off to keep it out of court.he wont be able to do it this time because the police and authorities wont let it happen!
i must put some blame on the parents as well for letting there child stay there with jackson when these stories emerged more than 10 years ago.surely they knew they were asking for trouble............did they just want a good payoff at there childs expense??
now there is a question
Am i being over the top??............i would protect my kids no matter what and wouldn't let them no where near a man that has been accused of molestation to a child!!

just my point of view!!

[rosecamp]

I would like to keep the verdict to the judges, and I hope they will investigate the case in a fair and profound manner. That is regarding both sides. Regarding the cynicism: The parents who accuse him now might know that he will release an album soon, too, also the first accusers might just have tried to get a piece of a huge cake. And indeed, Jason: Why would parents let their kid overnight at Neverland when they know about the earlier allegations? At least you would expect them  to make their kids tell them everything that is going on? Immediately?

[Onehitwonder]

same here

[AndrewR]

The following from NTL NewsThe credibility of the boy who has accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing him is in doubt following a claim that he recently signed legal papers saying the pop star "never acted inappropriately".

It also emerged that the boy's family had launched two other abuse-related lawsuits in the past, winning a £90,000 settlement in one case.

The new developments came amid signs that the health of the 12-year-old cancer survivor at the centre of the allegations had deteriorated.

San Francisco Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom said she had heard a tape in which the boy, his mother and brother say Jackson "never acted inappropriately".

She said the 20-minute tape was played to her by a private investigator working for Jackson. Ms Newsom added that the accuser and his mother had also signed an affidavit earlier this year, stating that Jackson never abused him.

The development could undermine the case against the 45-year-old star unless prosecution lawyers can prove that abuse happened after the tape and affidavit were produced.

Meanwhile, it emerged that the family of the accuser had accepted a settlement payout of nearly £90,000 two years ago after claiming they were beaten by security guards at a department store.

They said the boy, his brother and mother were assaulted after the boy left a shop with clothes he had not paid for.

The mother also alleged in the lawsuit that she was sexually assaulted by one of the guards.

Following that incident was a bitter divorce between the boy's father and mother in which she claimed spousal abuse and child cruelty.

During the proceedings the father's lawyer, Russell Halpern, said the mother had lied about the abuse and had a "Svengali-like" ability to make her children repeat her lies.

A lawyer who represented the boy's mother in the divorce said the family spoke positively of Jackson as recently as April or May.

But the District Attorney of Santa Barbara, in California, Tom Sneddon, who announced the arrest warrant for Jackson last week, defended the prosecution.

He said: "We didn't go looking for this case. It came to us. I would not have filed the charges had we not had a victim we felt was co-operative and supportive."