Police reports released on Tuesday, June 21 cited several picture books, magazines and videos containing images of nude and semi-nude children located during a raid at Michael's Neverland Ranch.
- Jun 22, 2016
AceShowbiz - Michael Jackson's estate has responded to the newly released police reports detailing his alleged pornography collection. Police reports released by Radar Online on Tuesday, June 21 cited several picture books, magazines and videos containing images of nude and semi-nude children located during a 2003 raid at Michael's Neverland Ranch.
Michael's estate says in a statement, "Seven years ago this coming Saturday, the world lost an amazing artist and humanitarian devoted to helping children in need in all corners of the world. Michael Jackson's fans, including the Executors of his estate, prefer to remember the wonderful gifts Michael left behind instead of having to once again see his good name dragged through the mud by tabloid trash."
"Everything in these reports, including what the County of Santa Barbara calls 'content that appears to be obtained off the Internet or through unknown sources' is false, no doubt timed to the anniversary of Michael's passing," the statement continues, "Those who continue to shamelessly exploit Michael via sleazy internet 'click bait' ignore that he was acquitted by a jury in 2005 on every one of the 14 salacious charges brought against him in a failed witch hunt. Michael remains just as innocent of these smears in death as he was in life even though he isn't here to defend himself. Enough is enough."
Earlier in the day, a representative of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department said in an email to Billboard, "Some of the documents appear to be copies of reports that were authored by Sheriff's Office personnel as well as evidentiary photographs taken by Sheriff's Office personnel interspersed with content that appears to be obtained off the internet or through unknown sources. The Sheriff's Office did not release any of the documents and/or photographs to the media."
"The Sheriff's Office released all of its reports and the photographs as part of the required discovery process to the prosecution and the defense," the rep added, "The documents with a header titled Sheriff's Department that contain a case number appear to be Sheriff's Office documents. The photos that are interspersed appear to be some evidentiary photos taken by Sheriff's investigators and others are clearly obtained from the Internet."
Radar previously cited a private investigator with direct knowledge of the Michael raids as saying, "The detectives' report cites Michael even used sexy photos of his own nephews, who were in the band 3T, in their underwear to excite young boys."
The site then released evidence photos from the 2003 raid which included a tape from a safe found in Michael's master bedroom.
Former Santa Barbara Senior Assistant District Attorney Ron Zonen, who helped prosecute Jackson, told Radar, "A lot of this stuff was used to desensitize the children, and Michael admitted taking one child after another into bed with him for long periods of time. We identified five different boys, who all made allegations of sexual abuse. There's not much question in my mind that Michael was guilty of child molestation."
Taj Jackson, Michael's nephew who was in group 3T, is blasting the reports on Twitter and threatening to sue the tabloid.
Looking into our legal rights as our band @TheReal3T was mentioned in a malicious article recently for a tabloid website.
— Taj Jackson (@tajjackson3) June 21, 2016
Not only is there absolutely no truth to this story whatsoever, but I'm truly sick of this crap. #getalife and stop living off ours.
— Taj Jackson (@tajjackson3) June 21, 2016
Thank you. I will be adding them to the list. https://t.co/WMJbEfgCFB
— Taj Jackson (@tajjackson3) June 21, 2016
Added @thedailybeast as well. https://t.co/xCTlGiwUyM
— Taj Jackson (@tajjackson3) June 21, 2016
What happened to journalistic integrity and the truth. Is it all about making money and selling lies now.
— Taj Jackson (@tajjackson3) June 21, 2016
The funny thing is, that if it weren't for my uncle paving the way, he probably wouldn't be sitting there.#ignorant https://t.co/w8ZVTEmXEm
— Taj Jackson (@tajjackson3) June 21, 2016
Fake news travels fast. The world picked up this trashy story. There's such a race to be first, only a few checked to see if it's even true.
— Taj Jackson (@tajjackson3) June 22, 2016