/ 14 January 2005

Boy’s testimony accuses Jackson of molestation

Graphic details emerged on Thursday night of the allegations made by the boy accusing Michael Jackson of molestation, including an explicit account of how he was allegedly plied with alcohol and masturbated by the pop star.

The United States television network ABC released details from more than 1 900 pages of testimony, in which the boy, who is now 15, described how he was supposedly abused at the singer’s Neverland estate in California two years ago.

Jackson faces 10 counts of child molestation and conspiracy.

On its website, ABC quoted excerpts from the testimony made before a grand jury. ”We were laying on the bed and [Jackson] told me that men have to masturbate. He told me that he wanted to teach me … so we were laying in the bed, and then he started rubbing me … he put his hand down my pants and he started rubbing me … my private area … he was masturbating me.”

According to ABC, the prosecutor asked him: ”Did you look over to see his eyes at any time?” The boy answered: ”Yes”, and added, ”His eyes were like squinching (sic) really tight.”

The accuser said he had never discussed the incident with Jackson afterwards.

The prosecution then reportedly asked the boy if he had touched Jackson. He answered: ”No. He — he wanted me to, but I didn’t. I said no and I pulled my hand away.”

Jackson’s lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, declined to comment. Jackson (46) has denied all allegations against him.

ABC said the boy and members of his family had testified before the grand jury in Santa Barbara County, California last spring, a hearing to decide whether there was sufficient evidence for a case. Jackson was charged in April.

Jury selection is due to begin on January 31 in what is likely to be one of America’s most sensational trials.

The boy, a cancer survivor, was also asked about claims that Jackson had made him drink alcohol. The accuser said he had told the singer he was not allowed to drink because he had only one kidney. ”But he would just say: ‘It’s OK’. And he would just keep on telling me to drink,” he said.

The teenager’s younger brother claimed Jackson made sexually explicit crank calls from his private jet. ”He picked up the phone and he started dialling. And I guess somebody picked up and he’s like … ‘We’re having a consensus’, or something. ‘And we just want to know how big your [female genitalia] is.’ And then he hung up the phone.”

The younger boy testified that Jackson had walked into a room naked, with an erection. He also described the elaborate security system on Jackson’s bedroom door. ”There’s a bell. There’s a sensor. There’s seven locks,” he said. – Guardian Unlimited Â