Websites, blogs and chatrooms pulsed with garish cracks about it. Legions of commentators and news reporters snuck it in every chance they got. More than a few of Michael Jackson's fervent admirers and supporters made a dismissive reference to it. Even President Barack Obama in a cautious acknowledgment of Jackson's towering contributions to American music and artistry still made reference to the "tragedy" in Jackson's life which was a subtle nod to it. And New York Congressman Pete King skipped the niceties and flatly said it.
The "it" is the never ending myth of Jackson the child molester. It still hangs as a damning indictment that feeds the gossip mills and gives an arsenal of ammunition to Jackson detractors. This is not a small point. In the coming weeks, there will be a push to bestow official commemorative monuments, honors on and a national stamp for Jackson. The taint of scandal could doom these efforts to permanently memorialize Jackson.
The child molester myth doesn't rest on Jackson's trial and clean acquittal on multiple child abuse charges in a Santa Maria courthouse in June 2005. Only the most rabid Jackson loathers still finger point to that to taint Jackson. The myth of Jackson as child abuser rests squarely on the charge by a 13 year old boy a decade before the trial and the multi-million dollar settlement out of court. The settlement, then and now, feeds the suspicion that Jackson must have done something unsavory and probably criminal, or else why settle?
Sixteen years later, though, the facts remain unchanged. The charge that Jackson molested the boy was brought by the boy's father. In interviews the boy repeatedly denied the charges. This changed only after he was administered sodium amytal, an invasive, mind altering drug that medical experts have frowned on and courts have disregarded in witness testimony.
Prosecutors, police departments and investigators in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara spent millions of dollars, convened two grand juries and probed nearly 200 witnesses that included 30 children, who knew Jackson to try to substantiate the charge. Not a single corroborating witness was found. Nonetheless, a motley group of disgruntled Jackson's former housekeepers, attendants and bodyguards still peddled the story to any media outlet willing to shell out the cash that Jackson had engaged in child sexual wrongdoing. Not one of the charges was confirmed. Typical was this exchange between one of Jackson's attorneys and one of the accusing bodyguards under oath:
"So you don't know anything about Mr. Jackson and [the boy], do you?" "All I know is from the sworn documents that other people have sworn to."
"But other than what someone else may have said, you have no firsthand knowledge about Mr. Jackson and [the boy], do you?""That's correct."
"Have you spoken to a child who has ever told you that Mr. Jackson did anything improper with the child?"
"No."
"Where did you get your impressions about Jackson's behavior?"
"Just what I've been hearing in the media and what I've experienced with my own eyes."
"Okay. That's the point. You experienced nothing with your own eyes, did you?"
"That's right, nothing."
When asked at the time about the charges against Jackson, child behavior experts and psychiatrists nearly all agreed that he did not fit the profile of a pedophile. They agreed that the disorder is progressive and there are generally not one but a trail of victims.
The myth of Jackson as child molester never hinged on evidence or testimony to substantiate it, but solely on the settlement. Why then did Jackson agree to it?
No charge stirs more disgust, revulsion, and pricks more emotional hot buttons than the charge of child molestation. The accusation stamps the Scarlet letter of doubt, suspicion, shame and guilt on the accused. The accused can never fully expunge it. There is simply no defense against it. Under the hyper intense media glare and spotlight that Jackson remained under, the allegation no mater how bogus would have been endless fodder for the public gossip mill. This would have wreaked irreparable damage on Jackson's ever shifting musical career and personal life.
A trial in Los Angeles in the racially charged backdrop of the Rodney King beating, the L.A. riots, and pulsating racial tensions in the mid-1990s would have been risky business. A trial in staid, upscale, and majority white, Santa Barbara County would have been even more risky.
Jackson and his attorneys knew that when it came to the charge of child molestation the presumption of innocence, or even actual innocence, is tossed out the window. Though Jackson did nothing wrong, a trial would have left him, his reputation and his career in shambles. The settlement was the only pragmatic, logical and legal way to end the sordid issue.
The settlement under extreme duress must not sully his name and place as an honored American icon. The myth of Jackson as child molester must finally be buried.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His weekly radio show, "The Hutchinson Report" can be heard on weekly in Los Angeles on KTYM Radio 1460 AM and nationally on blogtalkradio.com
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When they were little, there were a lot of times that my daughters slept with me and yeah, once got thrown up on in the middle of the night. Fun, NOT. On a few occasions, I let them go camping with another family and I knew the parents and all the kids would share a tent. No problem.
However, the same things being done with or to children to whom you are NOT a parent is not always acceptable
MJ is wholly responsibl
There was no excuse for his actions after the first allegation
Face it, MJ was not 'right in the head'. Tortured soul, sensitive artist, product of child abuse himself, or whatever other reason or excuse one wants to conjure up... HIS ACTIONS spoke louder than anyone else's words.
" If so, why did the hundreds or thousands of kids who visited him NOT make accusation
Rapists are pretty consistent too. (they have their preferred "type"). So would you dismiss a rape victim's story because well, 15 other women knew that man and spent time around him and weren't raped by him... so she must be lying?
Sorry. Your comment / argument for MJ's innocence is completely without merit.
"We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
"Would you be upset if your preadolesc
I think we all know every (responsib
Say what you will, but it is needless to say, my subscripti
Nothing was written about his talent , it was only about the dark side of heresay and bottomfeed
Life is short, most of us would like to enjoy the music than spend our time on digging dirt.
Neither do I recall hearing any serious discussion about his humanitari
but Michael USED THE WORD.. SHARE... the magic word.. SHARE.. \
by the time Media repeated and commented on this inncuous comment..
it's become to.. MJ ADMIITED IT'S OK TO " SLEEP " WITH LITTLE BOYS!! which in our present society meANS.. HAVING SEX.. SOMETHING MORE MORBID..
so from SHARE.. MJ'S WORD.. it's become 'sleep'; with..
I find it so interestin
In the interview, Jackson says "I slept on the floor, but even if I didn't it would be okay".
He said "not if you're a sick person or a pedophile" but as a friend.
He said it had nothing to do with sex.
And NO other kid came out and said he touched them inappropri
I read every word she's written since the allegation
In this instance, to understnad these allegation
and most of all he was a blessing to his own children.
Michael Jackson's TREASURES on Earth were his children, and
now he watches over them from Heaven.
Yes, Angels are among us.
Watch:
http://www