Was Michael Jackson a child abuser?
- Paige Phillips
- Mar 15, 2019
- 8 min read
Michael Jackson, often referred to as ‘The King of Pop’ was an American singer, dancer and songwriter who dominated the charts from the 1960’s-2000’s. He is widely regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20thcentury, as well as being the third best-selling music artists of all time behind The Beatles and Elvis Presley. His album ‘Thriller’ is the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated sale of 66 million copies worldwide.
Michael was also well-known for his unorthodox lifestyle, residing in a private amusement parked he called ‘Neverland ranch’ which often left him at the centre of tabloid scrutiny. The 2019 documentary, “Finding Neverland” focusses on a series of allegations against Michael in which he is accused of sexually abusing a number of children.
1993 Sexual Abuse accusations:
In mid-1993, a dentist named Evan Chandler accused Michael Jackson of abusing his 13-year-old son, Jordan Neil Chandler, nicknamed ‘Jordy’. The relationship between Jackson and Jordan had begun in 1992, with Chandler initially encouraging the relationship. The friendship became well known as the tabloid media reported that Jackson had become a member of the Chandler family. In 1993, Chandler confronted his ex-wife June with suspicions that their son was in an inappropriate relationship with the singer, but June dismissed the concerns and claimed nothing was going on.
Jackson asked his lawyer Bert Fields to intervene. On July 15th1993, Mathis Abrams, a psychologist, sent Chandler’s attorney Barry Rothman a letter stating there was ‘reasonable suspicion’ of sexual abuse. This letter was read to Jackson and his private investigator, Anthony Pellicano, on August 4th, after which Jackson opened negotiations to resolve the issue with a financial settlement. Chandler and his attorney rejected a $350,000 offer.
On the day Jackson began the third leg of his ‘Dangerous World Tour’, news of the allegations broke to the public and received worldwide media attention. Jackson was forced to cancel the remainder of his tour due to health problems arising from the scandal. In January of 1994, Jackson reached a financial settlement for $23,000,000 with the Chandlers and in September the criminal investigation was closed. In 2009, 5 months after Michael’s death, Evan Chandler committed suicide in his apartment in Jersey City.
The People vs Jackson
The 2004-2005 criminal trial case was based on the accusation Michael Jackson was molesting a 13-year-old boy named Gavin Arvizo. Jackson was indicted for four counts of molesting a minor, four counts of intoxicating a minor to molest him, one count of attempted child molestation, one count of conspiring to hold the boy and his family captive and one count of conspiring to commit extortion and child abduction. He pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Like previous allegations, Jackson was accused of abusing Arvizo in his home, Neverland ranch, where he often brought children and their families. A 2003 documentary, ‘Living with Michael Jackson’ showed Jackson and Arvizo holding hands and Jackson discussing sharing a bed with children, which triggered a new investigation by District Attorney Thomas W. Sneddon. Jr.
As there was no physical evidence, the prosecution relied on testimonies from witnesses, including the Arvizo family and Neverland employees, painting Jackson as a predator with a history of sexual abuse. The defence argued that the witnesses were unreliable as they had previous histories of perjury and fraud.
Witnesses for the prosecution:
1. Jason Francia
Jason Francia, who was 24 at the time of the trial, testified that Jackson had molested him on several occasions whilst tickling him. Francia’s mother was employed by Jackson as a maid. Francia said that “every time I was being tickled there was some sort of exchange of money”, with the understanding that he would not tell his mother.
2. Neverland Ranch Staff
In April 2005, Ralph Chacon, a former security guard at Neverland Ranch, testified that he had seen Jackson performing oral sex on Chandler in the early 1990’s. He also described Jackson passionately kiss him and place his hand on the boy’s crotch. He said he didn’t report the incident to the police as he didn’t think he’d be believed.
A former maid at the ranch, Adrian McManus, alleged she had seen Jackson kissing boys, including the child star Macaulay Culkin, and described Jackson touching Culkin’s leg and ‘rear end’. She also claimed that she had seen Jackson touching Chandler’s genitals. Culkin has always denied being molested by Jackson.
The defence sought to portray both Chacon and McManus as unreliable, as they failed to report the incidents to the police. McManus had previously denied witnessing misconduct from Jackson in the 1993 court deposition whilst under oath. In the 2005 trial, she said she had lied because she feared Jackson would report her to her superiors if she told police about the incident.
According to a later lawsuit, Chacon and McManus had been found guilty of stealing items from Jackson’s house amounting to more than $50,000. Under cross-examination, the pair admitted that they had been paid thousands of dollars to give a tabloid interview.
3. Gavin Arvizo
Gavin Arvizo was 15 when he testified. He claimed that after ‘Living with Michael Jackson’ aired, Jackson had begun serving him and his younger brother wine and making sexual advances. He said that Jackson had masturbated to ejaculation after they drank alcohol, and then told him that if men don’t masturbate they “might rape a girl”. When challenged by the defence, Gavin admitted that he had told his school administrator that Jackson had not molested him. The defence also argued that Gavin had told the sheriff that his grandmother had said the aforementioned quote, to which Gavin replied “I’m not exactly sure what my grandmother told me”.
The prosecution alleged that Jackson had exposed Gavin to pornography. Fingerprints from Gavin and Jackson were found on pornographic magazines belonging to Jackson. The defence countered that Jackson had caught Gavin reading them and had hidden them in a briefcase.
The trial also heard that Gavin’s father had persistently begged celebrities for money after Gavin had been diagnosed with cancer.
4. Star Arvizo
Gavin’s younger brother, Star, told the court that he had twice seen Jackson molest Gavin. He also said that Jackson had displayed his erection and masturbated in front of them, telling them that “everyone did it” and encouraging them to try it. He also claimed Jackson had touched him sexually. Star testified that Jackson had given the boys alcohol, sometimes in soda cans, which Jackson called ‘Jesus juice’. Star also said Jackson had showed the brother internet pornography on his computer.
Witnesses for the defence:
1. Macaulay Culkin
Former child star Macaulay Culkin testified that he had shared a bed with Jackson on a dozen or more times between the ages of 9 and 14, but that he had never been molested or saw Jackson act inappropriately. He said that his parents had known he was in Jackson’s bedroom and “never saw it as an issue”. Macaulay dismissed the allegations and described them as “absolutely ridiculous”.
2. Wade Robson
Wade Robson was 5 years old when he met Michael Jackson. He testified that he had slept in Jackson’s room several times but had never been molested, despite the claims of some witnesses. Years after the trial, Wade changed his position and claimed that Jackson had abused him.
3. George Lopez
Comedian George Lopez testified the he had given the Arvizo money when Gavin was fighting cancer, but came to believe that Gavin’s father was more interested in money than helping his son. Lopez cut ties with the family after the father became more demanding. Lopez also said that the father had accused him of stealing $300 from Gavin’s wallet.
4. Chris Tucker
Comedian Chris Tucker claimed he had felt sort for the Arvizo’s and bought them gifts and donated money. He felt the Arvizo’s expected too much, calling him their ‘brother’ and taking advantage of him. He testified that he had warned Jackson about the family, whom he called “cunning”
The jury deliberated for about 32 hours over seven days. On the initial vote, 9 voted to acquit Jackson, whilst 3 voted he was guilty. On June 14th 2005, they returned a verdict of not guilty on all charges. Years later, one juror said his ‘gut feeling’ was that Jackson had molested children, but supported the not-guilty decision as he felt that the prosecution had not proved this beyond reasonable doubt.
Years after the trial in 2017, ‘The Jury Speaks’ documentary was released which covered the trial with four members of the jury. Some reported receiving anonymous threats, and one said someone had loosened the wheels on her car. All said they would acquit Jackson again, even in the wake of later allegations.
Leaving Neverland:
In 2013, choreographer Wade Robson, who had previously testified that Jackson had not molested him, filed a $1.5 billion-dollar civil lawsuit against Jackson’s estate, claiming Jackson had molested him over 7 years when he was a child. In May 2015, judge Mitchell Beckloff dismissed the lawsuit, saying Robson had waited too long to make it.
In 2013, another man who had spent time with Jackson as a child, James Safechuck, filed a suit with the same lawyer as Robson. Safechuck claimed he realised he had been abused when he heard Robson’s allegations. He alleged that he had been sexually abused by Jackson over 100 times in a 4-year period and had been “brainwashed” into believing the incidents were “acts of love”.
Neither Robson or Safechuck received compensation for the involvement in the documentary.
The case against:
UK journalist, Mike Smallcombe, is the author of the biography ‘Making Michael’ and claimed the Robson’s testimony is full of lies.
He said: “In 2012, Robson had a nervous breakdown, triggered by an obsessive quest for success. His career, in his own words, began to crumble. That same year, Robson began shopping a book that claimed he was sexually abused by Michael Jackson. No publisher picked it up. In the draft version of the book, Robson called himself a ‘master of deception’. Robson filed a $1.5 billion civil lawsuit in 2013. He first filed it under seal, in the hope of reaching a financial settlement with the Jackson’s estate. To be clear, the judged ruled that Jackson’s companies were not liable to any possible actions by Jackson, and did not rule on the credibility of the man’s allegations”.
Jackson’s estate attorney said Robson was “caught lying repeatedly” in the dismissed litigations. The attorney added that the trial judge found of Robson’s lies so incredible that the trial judge disregarded Robson’s sworn declaration and found that no rational trier of fact could possibly believe Robson’s sworn statements”.
During his lawsuit against Jackson’s estate, Robson was ordered by the trial court to produce all documents about written communications with anyone about his supposed abuse. In one email, he listed over 20 different questions to his mother, asking her about specific details of his interactions with Jackson, including: “can you explain all that you remember of that first night at Neverland? What happened when we drove in what did we do? And that first weekend in Neverland?”
Despite telling the detailed story of his first night at Neverland in the documentary as if it’s his own memory, as his deposition, Robson admitted that he “did not know” if his memory of that night came from his own recollection or it if was told to him by someone else.
Another email showed that Robson found one particular story from the early 1990’s which specifically named him and his mother. He emailed it to his mother and asked whether it was true. She replied, “Wow, none of that is true”. The attorney for Jackson’s estate said that Robson was also trying to hide evidence before his cases were dismissed. He claimed Robson had lied under oath and stated that, other than one brief email in late 2012, he had “no written communications” with anyone (other than his attorneys) about his newly-concocted allegations that he was abused by Jackson. This turned out to be a complete and utter lie. Robson had actually shopped a book about his allegations in the year prior to filing his lawsuit – a book which he tried to hide from the estate.
The estate attorney also said Robson’s book told a completely different story of how he was first abused by Jackson. When asked about some of these discrepancies at his deposition, Robson explained that his memories had “evolved” since writing the draft of the book in late 2012 and early 2013.
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