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Jackson admitted sharing his bed with young boys
26 Jun 2009Pop star Michael Jackson's questionable attitude to children, including sharing a bed with young boys, was put under the spotlight during his child abuse trial in 2005.
The star faced allegations he abused 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo at his Neverland ranch in California - named after the fictional world in the story Peter Pan.
The ranch had its own amusement park rides and a zoo.
But in court Jackson was branded a serial child molester who used Neverland to lure children to a predator's lair filled with alcohol and pornography.
Jackson was said to have molested Gavin whose younger brother, Star, claimed he had twice witnessed the star fondle Gavin as he slept.
The trial, at Santa Maria court in California, lasted 16 weeks, attracted massive media interest and took its toll on Jackson, who looked gaunt and emotionally drained by the end.
The jurors said when they studied the timeline the brother's story did not add up and Jackson was cleared on all 10 counts relating to the alleged abuse of the 13-year-old.
They revealed they had not ruled out that Jackson had abused boys in the past but said there was not enough evidence relating to Arvizo's case.
The investigation had been triggered by a British documentary presented by journalist Martin Bashir in which Jackson admitted, and staunchly defended, sharing his bed with young boys.
The programme, broadcast in February 2003, prompted intense scrutiny of Jackson's relationship with Gavin.
In the documentary Jackson defended his actions, saying he sometimes slept on the floor while giving the children his bed, which he said was a "beautiful thing", "charming" and "sweet".
"Why can't you share your bed? That's the most loving thing to do, to share your bed with someone," he said in the documentary.
The interview showed how out of touch he was with the real world - and how incredibly naive he was about a mega-rich superstar putting himself in that position.
At his trial, his defence team insisted he was the victim of a con attempt.
The abuse allegations included the claim he had conspiring to hold Gavin's family captive to get them to rebut the damaging Bashir documentary.
After the jury returned not guilty verdicts, his lawyer Tom Mesereau told US network NBC the singer would not open himself up to child abuse allegations anymore by sharing his bed with young boys.
He said: "He's not going to make himself vulnerable to this any more."
Not that it was the first time Jackson had faced child abuse allegations.
Twelve years before the trial, in 1993, another young boy, Jordy Chandler, filed a civil suit against Jackson.
However, Chandler received an alleged £10.6 million settlement and criminal prosecutions were subsequently abandoned when the boy, then 12, refused to testify.
Reader views (2)
While the previous comment is well-written it is also clearly written by someone who was not familiar with all the facts on Michael Jackson. The last comment in particular 'He not only rejected himself but life itself' is far from the truth. MJ suffered from body dismorphic disorder, sufferers are not able to see themselves like everyone does, this illness is well documented if you look. I have a family member who suffers from this so I know about its effects. As for the claims that he rejected life itself, that is also not true. He gave more money to charities than any other celebrity ever and should be recognised for his humanitarian work if nothing else. If he 'rejected life' he would not have been so keen to 'heal the world' or to give so selflessly during his long career. He was treated abominably by the press because he wanted a private life and after some of the twisted behaviour of people who claimed to be his 'friends' one can hardly blame him for wanting privacy. He was not a well man, suffered vitiligo and lupus as well as the the terrible burns received during filming a Pepsi commercial - for which he was paid a huge sum by Pepsi - and used to all to equip a burns unit to help others. His behaviour may have been different to the 'norm' (whatever that is) but most of it is based on misunderstanding and hearsay and it would be wrong to judge a person on this alone. Let us knot forget that he was also found NOT GUILTY on ALL charges in the molestation trial. RIP MJ
- Suzan, london uk, 16/07/2009 14:17
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MJ's subjective experience of his life was as a child and unfortunately many people bought in to this and thought that he was still a child instead of a middle
aged man of 50. So lacking in self esteem and self worth, he felt the need to cloak himself in a fantasy.
I can't think of anyone (nice) who represents a life of total denial more than MJ.
He not only rejected himself but life itself!
- Washeed Dartee, London esat, 16/07/2009 13:17
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