By Dan Whitcomb,
Reuters, 11/19/2003
Additional reporting
by Cathy Scott
LOS OLIVOS, Calif. --
Authorities issued a warrant to arrest pop star Michael Jackson Wednesday as
sheriff's deputies finished scouring his central California Neverland Ranch in
an unspecified criminal investigation.
A lawyer for the
Jackson family said the warrant involved allegations of child molestation but
did not go into detail.
Court TV and other U.S.
media outlets said a 12-year-old boy who stayed at Jackson's ranch said the
45-year-old Jackson molested him.
Law enforcement
officials in Santa Barbara scheduled an 11 a.m. PST news conference.
A spokesman for the
police department in Las Vegas, where Jackson has been staying for the past
three weeks while producing a music video, said California authorities issued
an arrest warrant for the singer and were negotiating with his lawyers on the
terms of his surrender.
The spokesman, Jose
Montoya, did not specify the charges in the arrest warrant against Jackson and
said his department would not be involved in serving the warrant.
The Santa Barbara
County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday that investigators had served a
search warrant on Jackson's sprawling Neverland compound "as part of an
ongoing criminal investigation" but did not specify the nature of the probe.
Cable channel Court TV
quoted sources as saying the investigation stemmed from a new allegation of
sexual abuse brought by a 12-year-old boy against the King of Pop.
In 1994, Jackson
reached a multimillion-dollar out-of-court settlement with the family of a
14-year-old boy who accused him of sexual molestation. A criminal
investigation of that case was closed without charges being brought, and
Jackson denied any wrongdoing.
"We've seen this
before; our response is 'Here we go again;' Michael has 24-hour-a-day
supervision with him for the specific reason to protect him from these
claims," Jackson family attorney Brian Oxman told NBC.
WILL COOPERATE
"We cannot comment on
law enforcement's investigation because we do not yet know what it is about.
Michael will, as always, cooperate fully with authorities in any investigation
even as it is conducted, yet again, while he is not home," said spokesman
Stuart Backerman in a statement.
Jackson lashed out at
the "rogues' gallery of hucksters and inside sources" who dominated the
airwaves Tuesday speculating on the investigation.
"These characters
always seem to surface with a dreadful allegation just as another project, an
album, a video, is being released," Jackson said in the statement.
The search warrant was
executed on the day that a new greatest hits collection was released,
featuring Jackson's latest single, "One More Chance."
Sheriff's deputies and
officials from the Santa Barbara District Attorney's office completed the
search of ranch, which began Tuesday morning. Jackson has theme-park rides and
a zoo there.
The syndicated TV show
Celebrity Justice said the search was prompted by revelations made by a
12-year-old Los Angeles boy in therapy sessions.
Celebrity Justice said
the therapist felt compelled to report the information to authorities under a
California law requiring health care professionals who "know or reasonably
suspect" child abuse to disclose such suspicions.
It has been a
tumultuous year for Jackson, whose talents as an entertainer have been
eclipsed by his bizarre personal life.
In February, he
revealed in a British television documentary that he sometimes shared his
Neverland bedroom with young boys.
In November last year,
Jackson stunned fans in Berlin by dangling his barefoot baby from a hotel
balcony. In June, he settled a $12 million breach of contract lawsuit by his
former top adviser, avoiding a trial that threatened to expose details of his
financial empire.
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