Boy said Jackson did not molest him - document
A teenage cancer survivor accusing Michael Jackson of sexual abuse told social workers months ago that the star had never molested him, according to a document uncovered by a news website.
The document, featured on American television, concluded that the allegations against the pop star were “unfounded”.
It followed an investigation into the relationship between Jackson and the boy, who appeared on a documentary by Martin Bashir earlier this year.
The document was a memo from an administrator with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. It was based on an investigation last February and was leaked to the website thesmokinggun.com.
A source familiar with the document confirmed its authenticity to The Associated Press.
The memo was dated November 26, 2003 – a week after the Santa Barbara County district attorney announced child molestation allegations against Jackson.
Both the boy and his brother told investigators Jackson had not sexually abused them, according to the memo. Their older sister said she had never witnessed anything sexually inappropriate between her brothers and the entertainer.
The memo was sent from a regional administrator to medical director Charles Sophy and detailed a probe completed before Sophy joined the agency.
Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon said in a statement hat his office has been aware of the investigation and that it did not affect his decision to pursue charges.
The report and the “totality of the investigation” were provided to the judge when the search and arrest warrants were issued for Jackson, Sneddon said.
“Given what we know we do not consider the DCFS statement a significant factor,” he said.
Jackson’s defence is certain to seize on the memo.
The memo, which refers to Jackson as “the entertainer,” said the department began a 13-day inquiry after a Los Angeles school district official called its hot line on February 14 out of concern for the boy and his brother. The investigation was conducted with the Los Angeles police.
The school official suspected neglect by the boy’s mother and sexual abuse by Jackson, according to the memo. But the department and the police concluded the allegations were “unfounded,” the document said.
Louise Grasmehr, a spokeswoman for the child welfare department, said the leak would probably be investigated because the memo was supposed to be confidential under state laws designed to protect children.
The school official called the hot line after the child, a cancer patient who had visited Jackson at his Neverland Ranch, appeared in the Bashir interviewer and said he had been a guest for sleepovers at Neverland. In the documentary, Jackson defended his habit of letting children sleep in his bed as “sweet” and non-sexual.
The boy’s mother told investigators in February that “she believed the media had taken everything out of context,” the memo said. The mother said that the children were never left alone with Jackson and that her son slept in the same room with Jackson but never shared his bed. She said Jackson would sleep on the floor.
A source close to the boy’s family said the memo’s description of the February investigation was accurate. But the source also said the Department of Children and Family Services later refused to investigate a psychologist’s report that the boy said he had been molested.
Jackson was arrested on November 20 on suspicion of child molestation. He has denied the allegations and was released on €2.85 bail. Authorities said they expect to file formal charges next week.
