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Boy revealed sex assault details by Jackson
The teenage boy who accused Michael Jackson of sex abuse told a grand jury in graphic detail how the star allegedly fondled him, according to extracts of his testimony obtained by ABC television.
The US broadcaster Thursday cited transcripts of explosive evidence given in secret grand jury hearings in March last year that led to Jackson's indictment on 10 charges, ranging from child abuse to kidnapping.
"We were laying on the bed and he (Jackson) told me that men have to masturbate -- he told me that he wanted to teach me (to masturbate)," the boy told the grand jurors, according to ABC.
"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 the extracts from the court transcripts.
The account marks the first details to emerge of the alleged molestation of the now 15-year-old boy who claims that Jackson abused him on several occasions at his Neverland Ranch in February and March of 2003.
But Jackson's lawyer issued a statement strongly denouncing the leaking of the testimony that was placed under seal by trial Judge Rodney Melville.
"This case will be won in the courtroom and not through 'leaks' in the media," Thomas Mesereau said. "When he has his day in court, Michael Jackson will be acquitted and vindicated," he said.
In the extracts of evidence released by ABC, the boy told prosecutors under questioning that he looked into Jackson's eyes as he was being molested.
"His eyes were like squinching really tight," said the boy, who was 13 at the time of the alleged assaults, according to ABC News.
The boy however told the prosecutor that he had not intimately touched Jackson during their sexual encounters.
"He, he wanted me to, but I didn't," ABC quoted the alleged victim as saying in the transcripts. "I said no and I pulled my hand away."
The youngster, a recovering cancer patient, claimed that Jackson had plied him with alcohol, despite his medical condition, according to the 1,900 pages of transcripts of testimony by 41 witnesses obtained by ABC.
"Well, it wasn't really a good idea for me drinking because I only had one kidney, I only have one kidney. And so it harms my kidney for I drink that stuff. But he would just say, 'it's OK.' And he would just keep on telling me to drink," he reportedly alleged.
The boy's younger brother also gave evidence, telling grand jurors that Jackson had walked around naked in front of the children and given his brother alcohol in a can while on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles.
During a screening of the horror movie "The Devil's Backbone" at Neverland, Jackson walked into the room without his clothes on, the child reportedly said.
"He was nude -- he started to tell us it was natural -- it's just normal," he said, adding that Jackson allegedly had an erection.
The boy also told of elaborate security precautions in place in Michael Jackson's bedroom.
"There's a bell. There's a sensor -- there's seven locks," he said. The evidence presented before the grand jury in the California town of Santa Barbara led to the issue of a weighty but still-secret indictment against the beleaguered "King of Pop" on April 21. Grand jury hearings are held behind closed doors and witnesses are not cross-examined by defence lawyers, leading to claims by Jackson's team that prosecutors presented false and unsubstantiated evidence against the star. Jackson's lawyers have twice asked Judge Melville to toss out the charges against him on the grounds of "outrageous" conduct by prosecutor Tom Sneddon during the grand jury hearings. Melville refused both requests. Jackson, 46, maintains that the allegations against him are a "big lie" and part of a plot by the family of the boy to extort money from the singer. He has pleaded innocent to 10 charges, including child molestation, plying the boy with alcohol to seduce him and conspiring to kidnap the youngster and keep him and his family prisoners at Neverland. He was arrested on November 20, 2003, and remains free on three million dollars' bail pending the scheduled start of his trial on January 31.
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