Jackson's explicit letters seized (child's name redacted for FR)

The Daily Telegraph ^ | November 24th, 2003 | CAROLINE GRAHAM and SHARON CHURCHER

[Sabertooth]

EXPLICIT letters and poems said to have been written by Michael Jackson to his alleged victim will form the centrepiece of the sex-abuse case against him.

Police seized at least a dozen letters during the raid on Jackson's Neverland ranch last week.

"The district attorney is convinced these letters will be crucial to the case against Jackson," a source close to the investigation said yesterday.

"The boy told investigators about letters and poems and their precise location inside Michael's home. These letters were among the evidence seized, along with videotapes.

"They are very explicit and intimate and show a degree of familiarity. Basically, they appear to be love letters from Michael to the boy."

The accuser, 12-year-old Los Angeles cancer victim ******, also told police Jackson's pet name for him was Rubba.

"The boy first told this to his therapist, then repeated it to police," the source said.

"He said Jackson called him Rubba because one of the games they used to play was called rubba rubba. The boy said, 'Michael told me he was my rubba rubba friend."'

Although police handling the case in Santa Barbara, California, have been barred from revealing any details, it is understood the alleged abuse took place in February.

Jackson is said to have befriended ****** -- who, during a controversial British documentary screened earlier this year, admitted having shared a bed with the singer -- over a long period.

A source close to 45-year-old Jackson said: "For the past five or six years, he's taken kids from fractured homes and nurtured them as a father figure. As they get older, he teaches them fun things to do.

"Michael says he learned this from an adult when he was a teenager. No-one on his staff ever said anything. He's a tyrant. Everybody obeys the man."

Another Jackson source said: "The boy told of everything that went on and described things in Michael's closets, his bathroom, what was under his bed."

In her statements to police, ******'s mother, #####, has revealed that Jackson encouraged her son to call him "Daddy".

##### has claimed she, ****** and his two siblings were held virtual prisoners at Neverland, 100km north of Santa Barbara.

When she learned of her son's accusations of molestation -- which included claims that Jackson plied him with wine and sleeping pills -- she fled with her family in the dead of night.

A source close to district attorney Tom Sneddon, who will prosecute the case, said: "The DA is very confident with the evidence he has. This includes letters, videos and computer files. They believe they have enough to nail Jackson."

Jackson's legal team is said to be encouraging him to consider a plea bargain, possibly an insanity defence that would allow him to serve time in a state mental hospital instead of jail.

There was speculation yesterday that the singer raised his $3 million bail with the help of Miami-based Al Malnik, a lawyer for notorious gangster Meyer Lansky, who died in 1983.

Malnik reportedly began making large loans to Jackson when his career nosedived.

Malnik, 69, was cited by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in 1980 and 1992 as a person of unsuitable character.

The prosecution source said: "It just gets weirder and weirder. Michael supposedly has financial problems, but hiring someone with Mob connections is bizarre."

Prosecutors are said to be spreading a net around the world for other alleged victims. One boy of special interest is said to be in El Salvador, another in South Africa.

They are also said to be considering quizzing the son of an English premiership footballer.

Charges of aiding and abetting are likely to be filed against members of Jackson's entourage.

At the same time as the Neverland swoop, police raided two homes in Los Angeles.

One was reportedly the residence of Marc Schaffel, a gay video producer who filmed the rebuttal tape Jackson released just after Martin Bashir's British documentary aired.

[ChemistCat]

Why is all this in the press? The prosecutors should not be doing this. They just shouldn't. When minors are involved, and a trial is as high-profile as this one is, they should be doing everything they can possibly do to protect the witnesses AND keep vital information from susceptibility to dismissal.

Some judge has got to get a lockdown on this NOW.

It's prurient and it's going to give Michael Jackson a bigger chance of going free if guilty.

And if he's not guilty, it's so much the worse!

[Betty Jo]

Can the Feds be far behind?

Internationl trafficing of sex victims?

Is it a RICCO?

(do I have that right)?

There is so much middle eastern overlay.

A Jackson supporter and his father were on Rita Cosbys special last night.The father is named Said Elatab,from Lebanon.The same name shows up on the web,with his pix of the blind cleric as a photographer,having done work for UNICEF and such.

Tne son is an impersonator of Jacko, and hosts a website fan club and so on.

Do the Elatabs from Lebanon have any connections to the Saudi side of Malnik-Michael?

What about the Pakistan-Norwegian?

[Luis Gonzalez]

How did FOX News know?

I guess the very same way everyone knows all the "facts" surrounding this case thus far.

I believe in all sorts of evils in this world.

I believe that Jackson could be guilty of child molestation, and I believe that this family could be guilty of attempted blackmail.

I also believe that in light of the accusations already on record about Jackson, any parent allowing unsupervised activities between their minor children and Michael Jackson is guilty of criminal negligence.

Mostly, I believe in the right of all to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"I really don't care if his mother is evil, if she sent the kid in to trap Michael."

Really?

You don't care if a mother willingly exposed her child to an alleged sex abuser?

For what reason would she have done that?

[Luis Gonzalez]

Thanks!

[concerned about politics]

Can the Feds be far behind?

Internationl trafficing of sex victims?

My guess is "Bingo."

[Terridan]

"For the past five or six years, he's taken kids from fractured homes and nurtured them as a father figure. As they get older, he teaches them fun things to do."

This is the classic pedophile, hitting on kids from "fractured" or socio-economically depraved families. That was my experience when I was a detective.
Great post, and thanks for your caring about the juveniles anonymity.

[woofie]

When I posted the Drudge tease for this last night it was banned to "Chat"

Is this "Chat"?

[Lady Eileen]

What I want to know is what the hell is Jackson doing making a video with R. Kelly, that other pedo, called "One more chance"? Are they kidding me?

There's an old saying that seems on point: "Birds of a feather flock together." And R.Kelly definately seems to be a bird of the same feather, as this article detailing the charges against R.Kelly shows.

[cmsgop]

great tagline luis.

[Lorenb420]

Can the Feds be far behind?

How about for tax evasion?

Jacko Pawned $2 Million Watch to Raise Dough; Banker Claims: 'I've Kept Him Alive'
By Roger Friedman

In August 1994 — five months after Time magazine reported Jackson had paid a multimillion-dollar settlement after a 14-year-old boy claimed he had molested him — the King of Pop signed loan papers with Sony Music in which he used his catalog of songs to secure a loan.

But apparently that loan didn't solve Michael's problems. In 1995, Jackson used the same catalog to borrow money from NationsBank (now Bank of America). In a separate filing with NationsBank that year, he also put up the Beatles catalog. In 1996 he again put up the MIJAC songs — including "We Are the World," the proceeds of which were supposed to go to charity.

In 1997, Neverland was used as collateral with NationsBank, while Michael borrowed money from Sony using proceeds from his deal with a Saudi prince who promised to build theme parks with him. He also borrowed money from Sony in 1997 against the MIJAC catalog. What was happening was obvious — a shell game in which Jackson kept using his copyrights as assets against which he was constantly securing cash. As one deal expired, a new one would take its place.

...

According to filings, Jackson also borrowed money from Sony Music on Sept. 22, 1997, in a separate filing. In that loan, he used any money due him from a deal he'd made with Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal (google) to start a number of business ventures. None of those businesses — including theme parks and restaurants, TV programming and films — panned out.

"You realize that by taking the loans from Sony, Michael was getting advances without having to pay taxes," says one source knowledgeable about Jackson's affairs. "Eventually, when the loans are called, taxes will have to be paid."

[Travis McGee]

My prediction: MJ will commit murder-suicide. He's going to leave this painful world for a better place, and take his little princes with him.

[af_vet_1981]

"Michael says he learned this from an adult when he was a teenager. No-one on his staff ever said anything. He's a tyrant. Everybody obeys the man." Another Jackson source said: "The boy told of everything that went on and described things in Michael's closets, his bathroom, what was under his bed." In her statements to police, ******'s mother, #####, has revealed that Jackson encouraged her son to call him "Daddy". ##### has claimed she, ****** and his two siblings were held virtual prisoners at Neverland, 100km north of Santa Barbara. When she learned of her son's accusations of molestation -- which included claims that Jackson plied him with wine and sleeping pills -- she fled with her family in the dead of night. A source close to district attorney Tom Sneddon, who will prosecute the case, said: "The DA is very confident with the evidence he has. This includes letters, videos and computer files. They believe they have enough to nail Jackson."

But the Bryant/Jackson tag team will attack these victims. The already published the name and photo of Kobe's victim. They have a cultic allegiance to these perps. Just wait.

[wimpycat]

Yeah, the defense strategy is going to be that the boy's mother was a woman scorned, after Jackson threatened to cut off the money, according to a Fox News article. It will be interesting to hear the defense's reason for wanting to end financial aid to the family. They could say that Jackson wanted to help pay the boy's medical bills, but that the mother kept wanting more and more, and he was afraid that if he didn't give it to her, that she would make a false accusation about him.

Of course, the boy can just as easily say that Michael Jackson threatened to cut off money to his family if the boy didn't do what he wanted. The boy could say that Jackson asked him who was going to pay his medical bills if the boy talked? Where were he and his family going to live if Jackson didn't take care of them? The boy might die if Michael wasn't there to take care of them. (Seeing as how the boy in 1993 said that Michael would start crying whenever he didn't want to go along with something Michael wanted to do, this way of guilting this new boy into cooperation isn't implausible.)

[Terridan]

They keep telling us liberals are "for the children"...

Yeah, and the libs are for NAMBLA too...

[af_vet_1981]

They keep telling us liberals are "for the children". Well I think they are a bunch of hypocrites.

Are you talking about the Bryant/Jackson tag team ? They will say anything about the victims to protect their stars.

[Hildy]

I scanned this entire thread, and noted that nobody talked about his game...RUBBA RUBBA??????hubba hubba.

[concerned about politics]

This is the classic pedophile, hitting on kids from "fractured" or socio-economically depraved families.

When they start to go through full fledged puberty, he dumps them. He won't have anything to do with them after that.

[rabidralph]

I've only heard that she's a good tennis player. What do you know that's freaky about her?

[Timesink]

Seems as if the Brittish press has no compunction in the use of anonymity.

Wrong Daily Telegraph. This one is a Murdoch paper in Sydney, Australia.