Jackson Accuser Accused, Called A 'Con Artist' UPDATE - Celebrity Justice

November 11, 2004

Hope Horne, of Pineville, Louisiana, spoke exclusively to "Celebrity Justice." She says Joseph Thomas Bartucci, Jr., is her ex-boyfriend and claims that long before Bartucci filed a lawsuit accusing Michael Jackson of graphic sexual molestation, she knew he was planning to do it.

"When I was watching 'Celebrity Justice,' I was just shocked," Horne said. "I couldn't believe he went through with it. He told me a couple of months before that he was going to sue Mr. Jackson, and I told him he was full of it. I am speaking out because I don't want to see this con man ruin a person who already has enough on his plate."

"CJ" has learned that Bartucci filed another suit in 2001, accusing a Louisiana reverend of sexual molestation, claiming the minister "demanded that the plaintiff's masturbation was necessary in order to purify and avoid going to hell."

Attorneys for both sides say that the suit settled out of court with the terms confidential. Bartucci's lawyer on that case told "CJ" that his client seemed truthful, but the reverend's lawyer said it was a totally meritless suit that devastated the minister and his family.

"I'm angry that he's doing this," Hope said. "I feel hurt that he's doing this and glad that maybe I'll see justice served. He's a total con artist and a liar."

Hope says she's surprised that Bartucci is also facing a civil suit, in which a woman claims he used "fraudulent conduct" and "obtained title" to her insurance policy. That woman's lawyer claims Bartucci faked a convulsion during a deposition, about which Hope said, "It does not shock me at all."

As for the Jackson case, Bartucci claims the abuse happened in 1984 when he was 18 and he repressed the memory of it until 2003 when he saw a Court TV episode and then decided to sue.

So what's Hope's theory on why Bartucci is accusing Jackson of sexual assault, cutting him with a razor blade and puncturing his chest with steel wire? "He's trying to get a quick buck," Hope said. "He thinks Michael Jackson will pay him off and shut him up."

We tried, but couldn't find Mr. Bartucci for comment on all this. We also repeatedly called the attorney representing Bartucci on the Jackson suit, but could get a hold of him.

Mother Afraid Accuser Will Tell Father That Jackson Allegation is False - Fox 411

Wednesday, May 19, 2004
By Roger Friedman

The 14-year-old boy at the center of the current Michael Jackson case is right in the center of a family at war.

The boy's parents, who are in and out of family court over custody and visitation issues, recently crossed swords again.

This time the mother, who has been called an opportunist and a manipulator in this column by many who have had dealings with her, really said a mouthful. In court papers she said that not only do her two sons and one daughter not want to see their father, but — and this is only according to her — the two boys sleep with baseball bats because they fear this man. She also said they go through putting up a series of barricades so they can sleep soundly.

But it turns out, according to the father's lawyer, that the daughter has seen and spoken to her father. "The mother doesn't care whether she sees him or not," says H. Russell Halpern. "She's only interested in keeping the boys away from him. She's afraid they'll tell him that the whole Michael Jackson story is made up."

In fact: sources have told me from the beginning that when the 14-year-old underwent chemotherapy treatments a year and a half ago, it was the father who took care of him. When the family first came to Neverland, it was the father, not the mother, who accompanied them.

"When the boy got sick, the father took a leave of absence from his job and slept next to his bed. The boy wanted him there for comfort."

The mother's latest court statement, says Halpern, "demonstrates her lack of credibility." And there may be some evidence to back this up. When the mother sued J.C. Penney a couple of years ago, she gave a deposition in which she allegedly testified that her ex-husband — whom she later accused of beating her kids and killing her dog — was a "wonderful man."

Halpern is busy right now trying to get the deposition unsealed. He claims that the Pasadena, California lawyer who handled the case has been pressured by the mother's attorney, Larry Feldman, to keep the papers hidden. But attorney Tom Rothstein told me yesterday, "I've never spoken to Larry Feldman in my life." Feldman, of course, is better known as the lawyer who got a $20 million settlement for another family from Jackson in 1994.