DavidEye said:

Greedy.

frankjotzo said:

I'm starting to wonder what he offers the parents. Kinda like a guilt-trip thing an obnoxious relative does, like give you money or buy expensive gifts so you wont question odd behavior.

Pele said:

If that's indeed the case, and they're so gullible and easily swayed, they're probably not fit to be parents.

At least our own fav superstar had the decency to marry
the underaged chick he banged

Just heard on BBC 5 live negotiations are taking place between Michael's lawyers and the Las Vegas Police on the terms of his surrender.

This is surreal.

.
[This message was edited Wed Nov 19 10:18:38 PST 2003 by Marrk]

its true the warrant is out,
police are trying to getnhim to surrender
this is bad

Marrk said:

It is surreal, but in a way, anyone could have seen this
one coming a mile off. Most of all those moneygreedy
parents that still let their children go sleep at his
neverland farm. I mean, you're insane if you're a parent
and send your kid over there.

Sure, during daytime, with supervision, ok. But no one
in their right mind was gonna say "go sleep in his room"
geez.

He should have realised that himself. I couldn't believe
it when I saw those recent docus of him and he still said
it was ok and there was nothing wrong with it.

That, ultimately must have put ideas into someone's head
again. Someone thinking "OK here he is again, admitting
to sleep in the same room, I smell me some cash, hey mom
let's go pimp our little boy in national press to get us
some money from MJ".

Wether or not he did anything is besides the point here,
the whole thing is too surreal and backward to even be
talking about.

If these people settle for money, they should be serving
some serious time themselves. They should be held partly
accountable just as well. Especially if they seek cash.

IstenSzek said:

According to the Papers in England, they're seeking Justice not $'s. Though i recall Evan Chandler & Co saying something similar ten years ago.

Marrk said:

I guess it's a case of 'wait and see', but as soon as they
start talking money, it's all over for me. That signifies
they're fake, at least, it does to me.

Marrk said:

Sure they aren't saying this now.

IstenSzek said:

very true

I just read that the sexual acts of misconduct do NOT include any oral copulation.

He is to be held on bail of 3 million dollars. Supposedly they are negotiating his surrender.

He has stated the allegations are false, and will be proven so... read on:

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Michael Jackson to Face Multiple Child Sex Charges
27 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!

By Dan Whitcomb

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Reuters) - Pop superstar Michael Jackson, a self-styled "Peter Pan" whose relationship with children has long been controversial, was expected on Thursday to surrender to California authorities to face multiple charges of child molestation.

The Santa Barbara County sheriff and district attorney told reporters that they were giving Jackson, who was in Las Vegas this week shooting a music video, a chance to turn himself in and raise a $3 million bail.

But well after nightfall, the singer had yet to surrender and officials later said they expected Jackson to turn himself in on Thursday at one of the county's two jails -- the sheriff's headquarters in Santa Barbara or a smaller booking station in Santa Maria, closer to Jackson's home, the sprawling, children's theme park-like Neverland ranch.

District Attorney Thomas Sneddon said Jackson will be charged with multiple felony counts under a California law that defines molestation as "arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions or sexual desires of" the offender or a child under age 14. Each charge carries a penalty of three to eight years in prison.

"In a very short period of time there will be charges filed against Mr. Jackson," Sheriff Jim Anderson said, acknowledging there was "always that potential" that Jackson could flee.

Throngs of reporters who gathered late in the evening at an airport near Santa Barbara saw a private jet, believed to be carrying Jackson, land and sit on the tarmac for more than an hour. The plane took off again for parts unknown without any passengers leaving the aircraft.

Jackson's spokesman on Wednesday called the allegations false, scurrilous and without foundation. "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.

Backerman said Jackson had made arrangements with the District Attorney in Santa Barbara to return to the city "to immediately confront and prove these charges unfounded." Jackson has hired celebrity attorney Mark Geragos to defend him. Geragos is currently defending accused wife killer Scott Peterson (news - web sites).

Police spent more than 14 hours searching and videotaping Neverland Ranch, just north of Santa Barbara in central California on Tuesday. Authorities declined to specify what they were looking for or to divulge other details about the allegations reportedly brought by a 12-year-old boy who said Jackson molested him.

SIMILAR ALLEGATIONS

Jackson was the subject of similar child molestation allegations 10 years ago by a 13-year-old boy. But criminal charges were never filed, and Jackson was never arrested, because the accuser declined to testify after Jackson reached a multimillion-dollar out-of-court civil settlement with the boy's family.

Sneddon told the news conference that the current case was different because "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.

Jackson said in a statement on Tuesday that he was unaware of the nature of the current investigation and suggested that it had been deliberately timed to undermine the release of a new compilation of his greatest hits.

"These characters always seem to surface with a dreadful allegation just as another project, an album, a video, is being released," Jackson said in the statement.

Sneddon dismissed Jackson's claims, saying the investigation had been underway for months.

"Jackson himself, I believe, has said this was all done to ruin his new CD that was coming ... like, the sheriff and I are really into that kind of music," Sneddon said.

With criminal charges pending against the singer, the CBS television network scrubbed its planned broadcast next week of a prime-time Jackson television special, which was to feature his latest single, "One More Chance."

It has been a tumultuous year for Jackson, whose talents as an entertainer have been eclipsed by his bizarre personal life. In February, he spoke in a British television documentary of sometimes sharing his Neverland bedroom with young boys.

In November last year, Jackson stunned fans in Berlin by dangling his barefoot baby from a hotel balcony. In June, he settled a $12 million breach of contract lawsuit by his former top advisor, avoiding a trial that threatened to expose details of his financial empire.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

I'm still on the fence on this... we'll have to wait and see what's going on. If this goes MJ's way, could we see a possible lawsuit against the county of Santa Barbara for false arrest?



(damned grammar edit... )
[This message was edited Wed Nov 19 20:56:01 PST 2003 by June7]

Tom sneddon the DA has a personal vendeta against MJ, possubly fueled by MJ's song D.S. Although the lryics name Dom Sheldon it sounds more like Tom Sneddon. At one point he even say Dom S. Sneddon ie pronuced Tomas Sneddon. The fact he was joking about these serious allegations says more about his own lack of credibility than it does about MJ.
Also the thing I have noticed is all of this is "inside information" ie gossip
Wait till there is confirmation before you damm this man. By the way anyone who wants to comment on this topic in my mind has no right to until they read the 94 GQ article "Was Michael (or possibly Michael Jackson) framed". Despite the title this is not a biased article there are several points which come across which you will probably not heard such as the boy's father demanding 20 million dollars before the accusations even became public. Or that the boy although admitting he could identify his genitals mantained to the end he had NOT been molested. You must read this article. There is a copy on Steve harvey's website or if you just searched for it on goolge I'm sure you would find it.

Michael Jackson Arrives in Calif. to Surrender
25 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Reuters) - Pop star Michael Jackson flew into Santa Barbara on Thursday to face multiple charges of child molestation in the latest scandal involving his controversial relationship with young people.

Jackson, 45, arrived by private jet from Las Vegas and was met by Santa Barbara authorities who took him into custody, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson said.

Authorities in central California raided his Neverland Ranch estate this week seeking evidence to support sexual molestation allegations brought against him, reportedly by a 12-year-old boy. Officials on Wednesday said they had issued an arrest warrant for Jackson and set bail at $3 million.

He was shown on the news entering the sherrif's department with his hands handcuffed behind him. It's very sad.

He's dressed in black, and has been reported to have posted a bond of 3 million. He is to be at the station for the purpose of standard booking... fingerprints, photos, etc... the whole process taking about 1 hour. Detractors say this is anything but standard. The process has been expedited.

The booking procedure normally takes well over 3 hours.

Jackson Returns to Face Molestation Warrant


Mary MacVean and Tracy Wilson, Times Staff Writers


Michael Jackson, the self-described King of Pop, was taken into custody at midday today when he returned to California to confront allegations of child molestation.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Jim Anderson said Jackson was taken into custody at 12:05 p.m. After a short drive from the airport, he arrived, with his hands cuffed behind his back, at the station about 12:25PM

Hordes of reporters and photographers were on the Jackson watch this morning at airports and offices of law enforcement authorities in hopes of witnessing his surrender.

Jackson's attorney, Mark Geragos, said Jackson will fight the allegations.

An indication of media interest came this morning, as reporters and photographers waited for Jackson to arrive in Santa Barbara from Las Vegas, where he had been making a music video. Television showed the scene live at Santa Barbara Municipal Airport in Goleta, with some cameras watching for a time as nothing happened.

Jackson's plane finally taxied into a hangar but it was partially shielded by the hangar doors, where the press could not see who got out. Outside, a white SUV and a police car were parked.

Late Wednesday, Jackson was escorted by Santa Barbara County sheriff's deputies to his jet, a security guard at the executive terminal of McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas said.

"He flew out of the North Las Vegas Airport," Las Vegas police Sgt. Rick Barela said this morning. "He's gone." It was unclear where he spent the night.

Jackson, whose recordings over four decades include "Thriller," one of the best-selling albums of all time, had been working on a music video in Las Vegas.

Santa Barbara County Dist. Atty. Thomas W. Sneddon Jr. and Sheriff Jim Anderson held a news conference Wednesday, a raucous event at which they announced the arrest warrant but refused to provide more than a few details of the case. They said they would ask Jackson to hand over his passport.

A day earlier, investigators carried out search warrants at Jackson's Neverland Ranch - a 2,600-acre compound that includes amusement rides and a zoo - and at two other unspecified Southern California locations.

A lawyer for the Jackson family has said the case stems from a 12-year-old boy's charges of molestation during visits to Jackson's Santa Ynez Valley ranch. According to two sources, including a close friend of the boy's family, the investigation centers on the boy's allegations that Jackson served him wine before molesting him on several occasions last winter.

Stuart Backerman, a Jackson spokesman, denounced the allegations Wednesday as scurrilous and unfounded. "Michael would never harm a child in any way," he said in a statement.

"He is absolutely resolute that he is going to fight this," said Geragos, who also represents Scott Peterson, accused of killing his pregnant wife in Modesto.

Sneddon, who intends to be part of the prosecution team, said that unlike a similar Jackson investigation by his office a decade ago, law enforcement officials have a cooperative victim.

No charges were filed in that case, and the investigation was dropped after the boy decided not to testify. A civil suit was settled out of court.

The arrest warrant accuses Jackson of violating Section 288 (a) of the California Penal Code - which prohibits lewd or lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14. A count of child molestation is punishable by up to eight years in prison.

Jackson grew up in a family of performers, the youngest member of the Jackson Five. Although his record sales have waned in recent years, Jackson, the father of three, has remained a closely watched public figure, drawing attention for his brief marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, surgical reconstruction of his face and bizarre behavior, including dangling his 9-month-old son from a hotel balcony in Berlin.

In a documentary broadcast on ABC television in February, Jackson said he shared his bedroom overnight with a 12-year-old boy, but said it was innocent. Jackson said he slept on the floor while the boy slept in his bed.

"Why can't you share your bed? The most loving thing to do is to share your bed with someone," Jackson said in the film. "It's a beautiful thing. It's very right; it's very loving."

At Wednesday's news conference, Anderson and Sneddon refused to answer reporters' questions about whether the victim in the current criminal case was the boy shown in the documentary.

Jackson's supporters have suggested that the allegations were part of an effort to squeeze money from a singer whose enormous wealth and fame made him a target for false claims and extortion

From the Los Angeles Times

June7 said:

He was handcuffed too! You know Britney Spears must be like "Y'all, I got a CD out!". I seriously think this is kind of a revenge on Sony as well. It almost serves them right for rehashing the same hits and videos in order to make more money!

PROOF:

I never thought I'd see the day. This is all seems SO fucked up...
...borderline surreal.

I don't know what to think about the latest MJ scandal. On one hand, I think there is a good chance he could be guilty, but on the other hand, I can also see what an easy target he is and how easy it would be to set him up and then accuse him of this. Whatever happens in the end, I hope he gets some help. He is definitely fucked up and needs some serious help and should be brought back into the real world. Whether guilty or not, he should never have sleep overs with young boys (or girls). He's 45 for God's sake and should never put himself in a position such as this whether it's innocent or not. He should know better! The case will take forever to come to a conclusion and MJ better be prepared for what he is about to face. It's much more serious this time and we all know he's much more removed from reality than he was 10 years ago too.

kisscamille said:

You know, this is exactly how I feel. You said it all...