Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 25, 1993 TAG: 9308250191
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
A 13-year-old boy's claim that he was sexually abused led to the criminal investigation of Michael Jackson, and police seized videotapes and photographs from the entertainer's home, a source said Tuesday.
Police have confirmed that a criminal investigation began Aug. 17, but declined to release further details.
"We do not want to feed any wild speculation on this matter," Cmdr. David Gascon said.
But a source who has seen confidential police documents in the case told The Associated Press that the 13-year-old son of a Beverly Hills dentist told his therapist that he was fondled by Jackson.
The Police Department's special Sexually Exploited Child Unit is leading the investigation, KNBC-TV reported.
Jackson's security consultant, Anthony Pellicano, said people Jackson knew made a false child-abuse complaint against the entertainer after he refused to pay them $20 million.
"I am confident the department will conduct a fair and thorough investigation and its results will demonstrate that there was no wrongdoing on my part," Jackson said in a statement Tuesday from Thailand, where he is in the midst of a worldwide concert tour.
Michael Freeman, attorney for the child's mother, said the woman knew nothing of abuse allegations until police launched their investigation. Nor was she part of any possible extortion attempt, he said.
"She was shocked at what the allegations are," said Freeman. "Obviously she had no idea whatsoever that anything was going on of that nature or she would have stopped it."
An attorney for the boy's father refused to comment. No one answered the door at their home.
Search warrants were served over the weekend at Jackson's condominium in Los Angeles and his Neverland ranch north of the city. The warrants were sealed, but the source said videotapes and photographs were seized.
Jackson hired criminal lawyer Howard Weitzman. During a brief news conference, Weitzman read the statement from Jackson but did not answer questions.
Pellicano said the case was "an extortion gone awry." Jackson gets 25 to 30 such extortion attempts a year, said Pellicano, who has worked for the singer for four years. "He is appalled by this thing," Pellicano said.
"We had no intentions to do anything with it, we wanted to see how far they went," Pellicano said. "They made threats that they wanted to go to the district attorney's office and I says, `Go.' I says, `Why are you waiting?'
"When we would not pay, a phone call was made to Child and Family Services, which started this investigation."
Investigators for the county Department of Children's Services had no comment on the case.
by CNB