
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 27, 1993                   TAG: 9308270153
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Medium

LOTS OF ALLEGATIONS, BUT LITTLE EVIDENCE

Videotapes seized from homes belonging to Michael Jackson do not show sexual molestation by the entertainer, and the lack of physical evidence has left investigators "scrambling" to get statements from other potential victims, a high-ranking police source said Thursday.

"There's no medical evidence, no taped evidence," the source said. "The search warrant didn't result in anything that would support a criminal filing."

When police executed search warrants at Jackson's Los Angeles condominium and ranch near Santa Barbara over the weekend, they left with several videotapes. Thursday, sources said investigators still were reviewing the tapes for clues of possible victims; some of the tapes are said to feature Jackson in the company of young admirers.

But, so far at least, sources close to the probe say authorities have uncovered no physical evidence implicating Jackson.

Howard Weitzman, the lawyer who represents Jackson, declined to comment on specifics of the case but echoed the police source's view of the evidence obtained so far. "That's consistent with my understanding," he said.

With little, if any, physical evidence to implicate Jackson in the allegations involving the 13-year-old Los Angeles boy at the center of the probe, investigators are interviewing other youngsters close to the entertainer to determine whether any of them were sexually abused.

An employee with the Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services, which is investigating the case with the Los Angeles Police Department, said Thursday that the 13-year-old boy has identified four or five other children whom he believes were molested by Jackson.

At least three other young people have been interviewed, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

A fourth young boy also was interviewed because he was at Jackson's home when search warrants were served. That boy has acknowledged that he slept in the same bed as Jackson on occasion but has fiercely defended the singer and said he never sexually molested him.

As the investigation entered its ninth day, there was no sign that the international interest in the case was abating. Jackson remained out of sight in Bangkok, Thailand, suffering from reported dehydration after a concert there. He canceled a second concert Thursday amid rumors that his whole tour was being scrapped.

by CNB