Michael Jackson says he was manhandled by authorities when arrested last month on child molestation charges — and suffered a dislocated shoulder from the way he was handcuffed.
”It’s hurting me very badly,” Jackson told CBS’s 60 Minutes in an interview broadcast on Sunday.
”I’m in pain all the time.”
The pop music star denied the charges against him in a partial transcript of the interview released on Friday, and said he still believes it’s acceptable to have children sleep in his bed.
On Sunday, CBS released the full transcript of Jackson’s interview with Ed Bradley.
Jackson (45) is charged with seven counts of performing lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under 14 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent. After surrendering to Santa Barbara, California, authorities on November 20, he was set free on $3-million bail.
Representatives of the Santa Barbara County sheriff’s department did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Sunday. Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon has said Jackson was treated fairly while in custody.
The pop star said authorities sought to belittle him when he was taken into custody.
”They were supposed to go in, and just check fingerprints, and do the whole thing that they do when they take somebody in,” he said.
”They manhandled me very roughly. My shoulder is dislocated, literally.”
The pain from being handcuffed behind his back ”keeps me from sleeping at night”, he said.
Jackson said he was locked in a restroom for 45 minutes after he asked to use the facilities. He said the room was smelly because of faeces thrown all over.
His bedroom at his Neverland ranch was left a ”total wreck” by investigators acting on a search warrant, Jackson said, although he admitted he has yet to see it.
Bradley pressed Jackson, a father of three, on whether he would allow his own children to sleep in a bed with a 45-year-old man and if he understood the way this appeared to others.
”People think sex,” Jackson said. ”They’re thinking sex. My mind doesn’t run that way. When I see children, I see the face of God. That’s why I love them so much.” — Sapa-AP