Michael Jackson: Most Recent Allegation Could Be Smoking Gun

April 15, 2004

Isn’t it ironic that Michael Jackson would be accused of child abuse for the third time during April, National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month, and at the same time a grand jury in another county may be ready to indict him on child molestation charges? Make no mistake. Michael Jackson is different, even strange to many. Yet, if Jackson is innocent and not a hebephile, he must be telling himself that the truth is stranger than fiction.

Let’s look at what we do know. Jackson paid out 15 – 20 million dollars in an out of court settlement in 1993 to a then 13 year-old boy he was accused of molesting. Allegedly, that boy, who would roughly be 24 now, testified recently before a grand jury in Santa Maria, California. Santa Barbara County is where Jackson was arrested and formally charged with 7 counts of lewd and lascivious behavior and 2 counts of administering an intoxicating agent to another approximate 13 year-old boy, a cancer victim. Allegedly, this child’s statements implicating Jackson have waffled. Now, a third published accusation of child molestation surfaces against Jackson. Ostensibly, Jackson allegedly molested a third victim in the late 1980’s.

And, if history is known to repeat itself, which it seems to do so relative to Michael Jackson, the alleged victim this third time would also be a male and probably around the age of 27 today. Remember, I said Jackson was being painted as a hebephile, which is an adult molester of adolescent boys, the same age group of victims we witnessed in the high-profile Catholic Church child sex abuse scandal.

So, what are you thinking, three strikes and you’re out, Michael? Michael, you must have done it right, because you’re guilty by association and where there’s smoke there’s fire? Why would three separate accusers over 15 years come forward and accuse you of heinous acts, Michael, if they weren’t telling the truth?

Let me suggest some answers. Jackson is an open-season target for those with a get-rich-quick-scheme in mind. After all, Jackson still represents deep pockets. Assuming Jackson’s accusers are not lying and are not delusional, they would be part of a small group. The numbers do not lie as both confirmed: unconfirmed reports numbered approximately 1:3 in 2002. (Link) And the incidence of child sexual abuse from 1992 - 2000, according to a study conducted by Dr. David Finkelhor of the National Crimes Against Children Laboratory in New Hampshire and recently published by the Department of Justice, decreased by 40%. (Link)

Clearly, Mr. Jackson, this is not 1993. This is 2004 and there is no gray area. You cannot settle out of court this time. You did it or you did not. It’s black or white. Will your own songs like Beat It and Smooth Criminal come back to haunt you? Or, will you pass go and collect $200? I think the time is ripe to prove your innocence, but not in the court of public opinion.

This third allegation against Jackson could be just what the prosecution ordered if it corroborates “a pattern of abuse by Jackson.” On the other hand, if this accuser suffers from alleged Recovered Memory Therapy, Mr. Geragos, Jackson’s lead attorney, may be salivating about now. In either case, it may appear to be the smoking gun.

Dean Tong