- (KRT) -- The accuser of Michael Jackson, preparing to
surrender on charges of child molestation, is reported to be a 12-year-old
boy who says the pop star lured him to his Neverland Ranch and plied him
with wine before abusing him.
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- Several reports point to the boy being a brave cancer
survivor who was befriended by Jackson while he was ill - and who has spoken
to a therapist, a lawyer and police about the singer.
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- A source told the New York Daily News that the boy's
family had confided to friends several weeks ago that Jackson gave him
wine to drink during Neverland sleep-overs.
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- One report, on the Fox News channel, stated categorically
that the victim was the 12-year-old young cancer survivor.
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- It said the boy was lavished with attention and gifts
by Jackson - and then plied with wine before being molested.
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- A friend of the family of one 12-year-old child with
cancer, with close ties to Jackson, said he'd learned three weeks ago that
the boy was speaking to authorities.
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- "The family told me he was seeing a therapist and
that he had seen an attorney," the source said. "The police talked
to him and his brother several times."
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- They added: "His family told me Jackson might have
given him wine to drink."
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- Officials declined to say how many counts Jackson faces,
but each one carries between three and eight years in prison.
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- The schoolboy's claim surfaced nearly 10 years after
Jackson was embroiled in another sex scandal involving perverted slumber
parties at Neverland.
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- In that case, a 13-year-old filed a lawsuit and settled
out of court for millions before prosecutors could finish their probe.
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- Santa Barbara District Attorney Thomas Sneddon, who heads
this case and also headed the earlier case that fell apart, promised history
wouldn't repeat itself.
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- Ripping into "apologists" for Jackson who claim
his accuser is a gold-digger, he outlined how prosecutors have far more
ammunition this time around.
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- That includes a law, enacted after the first case against
Jackson fell apart, that lets prosecutors force child-abuse victims to
testify.
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- Sneddon also stressed that this alleged victim has not
filed a civil suit against Jackson "and there is no anticipation of
a civil case".
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- "Get over here and get checked in," Sneddon
advised as he announced a warrant for Jackson's arrest, called for the
eccentric entertainer to turn himself in quickly, and asked other possible
abuse victims to come forward.
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- "We have a cooperative victim in this particular
proceeding," Sneddon boasted.
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- The accuser was not named, and all court documents in
the case were sealed for 45 days.
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- The allegations against Jackson became official a day
after dozens of investigators staged a surprise raid on Neverland - the
$15 million fantasyland filled with toys, exotic animals and amusement
park rides that Jackson calls home.
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- Cops also searched two other unnamed locations in Southern
California for evidence.
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- Holed up in Las Vegas on a music-video shoot, Jackson
made plans to return to Santa Barbara as soon as today - and hired high-profile
lawyer Mark Geragos to defend him.
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- Brian Oxman, a lawyer for Jackson's family, insisted
he will be exonerated. "We think it's a shakedown," Oxman said.
"Those of us who know Michael just find it difficult to believe."
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- But Robert Wegner, 68, who was Jackson's security chief
from 1990 to 1993, wasn't surprised the singer is under fire. He said more
than 100 children - mostly boys - slept in Jackson's bedroom while he was
in charge of Neverland.
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- "He'd always be touching kids, when he had the chance,"
said Wegner. "I think he needs some professional help. It's been 10
years, and he hasn't cleaned up his act, so obviously he's got some very
serious problems."
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- Copyright © 2003 The Sydney Morning Herald.
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- http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/11/20/1069027245015.html
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