Michael Jackson, Alleged Pedophile - Another Angle

[...] Read the original post:  Michael Jackson, Alleged Pedophile - Another Angle | Strollerderby [...]

[...] [...]

[...] Is it because it makes for good copy? Because there’s the squeamishness over the man’s brush with pedophilia allegations? Because until he died many of us were willing to pick on him for his ultra [...]

I find it easy to keep the two separate; Michael Jackson was tried by a jury of his peers and found NOT GUILTY. He isn’t even an “alleged pedophile”, he’s someone who was charged with child molestation, tried, and found not guilty. And it wasn’t any average trial, either — he was tried by a prosecutor who personally hated him and vowed to see him destroyed (hope he’s happy now.) The LA prosecutors office scoured the earth looking for a second boy (or young man, or grown man) willing to come forward and say that Jackson did something — anything! — inappropriate with him. They found no one, and fortunately the jury chose not to believe that family of con artists.

That’s the important thing right there — the jury listened to the evidence and found Jackson not guilty. On all charges. He walked out of the courtroom a free man, but sadly it seems like a lot of people in our society seem to want life to be like the plot from Atonement — if a brat accuses you of something, it’s automatically true and your life is automatically ruined.

I think Michael Jackson is guilty of a lot of things. He was guilty of trying to change his social status, his gender, his race. He was guilty of having terrible PR. He was guilty of ignoring social mores and not growing up and not knowing when to keep his mouth shout. He was guilty of being a freak and boy, did he ever pay for that crime. But the one thing that he absolutely, positively is NOT guilty of is being a child molester.

I’m so glad someone has finally written about this! I’ve been thinking nonstop about the molestation charges since MJ died, and wondering why the only talk about him since his death has been in glowing, reverential terms. It is a tragedy to me that such an amazing, gifted performer was so obviously deeply psychologically disturbed, and pretty clearly harmed children over the years. (Note to Knitty above, and any other doubters: the esteemed journalist Maureen Orth wrote several extremely long, detailed, and heavily researched articles for Vanity Fair from the early ’90s to the mid-2000s, all of which can be found on the Vanity Fair website, and which lay out absolute scads of extremely disturbing evidence of MJ’s pedophilic tendencies. It’s impossible to read those articles and not be convinced of his very sad, horrifying sexual deviancy toward children.) Recall that, in the first case, MJ paid the family $25 million to settle the case the night before he was deposed–surely a suspicious move. And it seems clear that, being the celebrity he was, he was able to influence and/or pay off people in order to escape conviction in the 2nd trial. The VF articles make this very clear, sadly. I’m not happy to say that; I was a huge MJ fan in the 1980’s and truly think he was an outstanding, groundbreaking entertainer. But it’s almost impossible for me to separate that from his clear mental disturbance(s) and sexual abuse perpetration against children.

I don’t know what the esteemed Maureen Orth wrote about him, but I distinctly remember the astounding levels of media bias against Mr. Jackson before and throughout the trial. For me, it was impossible to read the long, detailed, and heavily researched book ‘The Michael Jackson Conspiracy’ by A. Jones and not be utterly convinced that he was set up, conned, and exploited. He was the perfect target, not just for greedy con artist parents (who willingly turned their children over to the care of a very odd man; Mr. Jackson didn’t kidnap them) but for the media as well. I don’t think anyone deserves accolades for pointing about that “hey, didja remember people accused him of being a molester?” when that’s pretty much all that’s been said of him for the past decade. It’s been a nice three-day respite from the constant drumbeat of “CLEARLY he was a child molester” but apparently the honeymoon purchased by his death is over. I was hoping for longer, at least out of respect to his very young, very recently bereaved children.

ChiLaura - I think the coverage on MJ’s death is more due to his impact on culture than anything else. He was the first black artist shown on MTV. They didn’t want to show his videos at first, but his record company believed in him so much that they threatened to pull all of their videos from MTV if they did not show MJ. The amazing thing is, before this MTV had a cult following, but it was MJ and his videos that really blew MTV (and the music of our generation) out of the water.

On the criminal charges, I can’t say if I am right or wrong, but my feeling is with Knitty that he was set up. What kind of parent lets their kid stay unsupervised at someone’s house that is not a relative or friend and who has no children. I truly believe our culture’s fear of the unknown molester is way overblown, and still I would not let my kid stay with someone I didn’t know.

I also think someone who would do this could feasibly be looking for some kind of payout. He was really an obvious target.

Again, I could be wrong. (And I feel the most sorry for the children caught up in all this.)

Best analysis I have read of reconciling the entertainer with his alleged actions: http://www.racialicious.com/2009/06/29/michael-jackson-is-dead/#more-2562

I have a firm belief that people with severe mental health problems would never live the life they have, if they had a choice. But what the hell. Why waste my compassion on some crazy guy?

And yes, the coverage of Jackson has been excessive. I think some of that is due to the suddenness of his death. He was also a huge star and his death wasn’t without some weirdness attached. It’s still too much but I guess I’m not surprised.
And one more thing: there was a huge media bias against him during the trial. He got angry enough to write an anti-semitic song about the DA who was prosecuting him (”Kick Me, Kike Me” - from “They Don’t Care About Us” http://su.pr/5BnS57). But I still like the Jackson 5. (CORRECTION: See below. “They Don’t Care About Us” is not about former DA Sneddon, that’s the song “D.S.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.S._(song) The lyrics in “They Don’t Care About Us” are still anti-semitic.)

This is the question I’ve been struggling with since the moment I found out he died. How do I feel about this man? I’m grieving; I love his dance moves, I loved some of his music (although I have to say, listening to it now, it sounds dated to the 80s, and most stuff after that were ballads, which I’m not a fan of). But mostly, he was a cultural icon. I remember as a teen seeing the thriller video for the first time on tv. Michael Jackson was hugely talented, and to today, as I reminisce, I am more blown away than ever at his abilities.
That said, I also read “the smoking gun”- the court papers, the testimonies, the witnesses, the allegations…dude, this guy was so guilty of pedophelia! Even if, lets say, the mother in the 2002 (3?) trial set him up, he had a load of evidence against him in the 92 case, which he didn’t dispute, but rather settled (and made go away!). And, for those who didn’t read the court records, etc.; you make a very clear point about a grown man who chooses to invite children over and sleep with them in his bed… C’mon people! Talk about believing what you want to believe! No one wants to think of this clearly loving, victimized (I absolutely believe that he had vitiligo - I saw the evidence of that), man who trumped up his fame by doing weird things. So, I’m also left with this inner debate of “how can I love a cad of a pedophile?” I’m very torn. So, I guess you must separate the entertainer from the man. That’s the best I can come up with.

I personally believe his Father molested him. A grown man does not sleep with children that are not his.(Michael) Let God be the judge since God knows. I like what Paul MCcartney said about the Beatles. We were just a band. D.J.

The reason we’re not hearing as much about this aspect of his life is that generally, we try to recall the good things about people when they die. How many times have you been to a funeral and had people get up and speak about how awful the person was? It doesn’t happen. Let the man rest in peace and let the world remember him as the legend he was.

He was praised at his best & ridiculed at his worst…..whatever the underlying truth may be of his past, it’s still not definite…One thing is for certain though…Neither you nor I were there to witness it, therefore, like a rumor it’s just that, we don’t know & have no right for passing judgement…Not to say it never happened, I just mean we will never actually know the truth except for the individuals who were there and know what happened. The man I came to know even from a distance did however, break down walls & barriers like no other from our generation…He revolutionized dance moves, trends, touched lives in ways one could never imagine, made significant contributions to thousands in need & made some of the most unique & inspiring music of all time that no one else has done so before…He was, still is & always will be THE KING OF POP & GREATEST ENTERTAINER EVER…RIP MJ, I hope you have finally found what you’ve always been looking for, whatever that may be….you surely will be missed…

Research the cases before passing judgment or else say you don’t know if he’s guilty or not because you don’t know the evidence. There is no evidence that Michael Jackson ever molested anyone other than the words of proven and admitted liars who couldn’t keep their lies straight under oath. If they had evidence in 1993, Sneddon would have arrested Michael Jackson and charged him with child molestation, instead the police investigation went on for more than a year and no charges were ever brought. Jackson was found not guilty in 2005 because he was NOT GUILTY. The prosecution presented NO evidence to support Gavin Arvizo’s claims that Michael Jackson molested him. Instead all the evidence, even the prosecution’s ‘evidence’ pointed to the fact that Gavin and his family were a bunch con-artists trying to pull the biggest con of their careers with the help of the mainstream media. People like to claim Michael Jackson was a pedophile based on these idiotic lines of reasoning.
1. “He’s spends time with kids instead of women, therefore he is a child molester”. If so how come all the kids he spends time with aren’t accusing him? How come all the victims that exist in your imaginations never come forward with allegations. He’s had thousands of kids at Neverland over the years, and only three accusers, all whose parents happen to be con-artists chasing after money.
2. “He paid them off so he’s guilty.” Do you know the difference between a civil case and criminal case. WTF is something as serious as child molestation doing in civil court instead of criminal court. If you think someone molested your kid you go straight to the cops, you don’t call your lawyer and file a lawsuit and then refuse to cooperate with the police once you get a settlement. Explain to me where in the settlement http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0616041jacko1.html does it say the money is contingent upon the accusers failure to cooperate with the police. It was the Chandler’s decision and theirs alone to run after taking the money. If you bother to read it (I know its to difficult for idiots) you’d notice MJ claimed he’s innocent in the settlement and accuser and his lawyers agreed to sign it. By this idiotic logic, Janet Arvizo and her children were telling the truth when they claimed that a JC Penny’s security guard beat and sexually abused her because JC Penny settled with her for more than 100,000. Please.
3. “He had money so he beat the rap.” Martha Stewart, Paris Hilton, Chris Brown, Madoff, etc. I guess did not have enough money to beat the rap. Michael Jackson’s trial was one of the most expensive trial in U.S. History. It cost taxpayers 2.7 million dollars. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Michael-Jackson-s-Trial-Costs-2-7-million-5327.shtml Sneddon had been chasing after Michael Jackson for 12 years and he still could not find any evidence or credible witnesses, despite ransacking Neverland twice with 70 police officers, setting up a hotline for alleged victims to come forward, and traveling around the world looking for victims.
4. “OJ Simpson got away with it, so Michael Jackson got away with it too.” People who think OJ is guilty can point to evidence, something that MJ haters have a hard time doing. By that same logic, Charles Manson is also innocent because some people are wrongfully convicted. Therefore, we should release all convicted criminals from prison.
5. “He sleeps with boys.” This is not illegal. If you want to use this as proof of his guilt, then at a minimum the boys he’s sleeping with have to be the ones accusing him, NOT you. This didn‘t happen in the Michael Jackson case, contrary to popular belief. Gavin Arvizo the boy accusing him in 2005 never slept in bed with Michael Jackson, according to the Martin Bashir interview and witnesses at the trial. He slept in the guest room with his family. Macaulay Culkin, Wade Robson, and Bert Lewis, all testified they slept with Jackson in the early 90s and nothing happened. Do you know better than them what happened to them? Jordie Chandler (the boy got the settlement in the early 90s) skipped the country so he wouldn’t have to testify in the 2005 case. Gee, I wonder why?
6. “There was ‘lurid’ testimony. ‘Little boys never lie’. When a child speaks we should believe them…” I can give lurid testimony about you too. I wonder if that makes it true. Here’s one of my favorites from you tube. On the witch hunt for victims Diane Diamond comes across a boy who could give ‘lurid testimony’ that Michael Jackson molested him and details of his time at Neverland. She believed him and wasted months trying to corroborate his story and even gets the police involved. Turned out this kids a liar who’d never even met Michael Jackson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3GbPkR-ne4
If you are an intelligent person with an interest in the cases read Aphrodite Jone’s book, Geraldine Hugh’s book, and this GQ article http://www.buttonmonkey.com/misc/maryfischer.html.
If not, then quit slandering the man’s name.