Jackson hits back over raid

Search: police at Neverland
Staff Reporter13 April 2012

Michael Jackson vented his anger today at the "dreadful allegations" against him after police raided his Neverland Ranch as part of a criminal investigation.

More than 20 investigators served a search warrant at the sprawling ranch amid reports that a 12 or 13-year-old boy had made an allegation of sexual abuse against the pop superstar.

Jackson denounced media coverage of the search in a statement.

In it he said: "I've seen lawyers who don't represent me and spokespeople who do not know me speaking for me. These characters always seem to surface with dreadful allegations just as another project, an album, a video is being released."

The British spokeswoman for Jackson said the 45-year-old musician had not been at his Californian estate in the Santa Ynez Valley at the time of yesterday's raid.

The singer, one of the most successful recording artists in history, had instead been shooting a music video in Las Vegas, she said.

The spokeswoman also denied reports that paramedics had been called to Neverland during the search.

And she refused to comment on the reports from the US cable station Court TV, that an allegation of child abuse had been made against Jackson.

In a statement, she said: "We do not have any detailed information to give media following today's ongoing events at the Neverland Ranch or the reasons for them.

"Contrary to some media reports, however, we can confirm that Michael was not at Neverland during today's events (nor has he been for three weeks) and is currently shooting a music video in Las Vegas.

"Nor is it true that any paramedics had to be called to Neverland."

Officials refused to disclose the purpose of the search, which was carried out by investigators from the Santa Barbara County sheriff's and district attorney's offices.

It was part of an "ongoing criminal investigation", Sgt Chris Pappas said, and there were no immediate arrests.

Jackson became the world's top pop performer in the 1980s with his groundbreaking dance routines and multi-million selling albums Thriller and Bad.

But in 1993 a 14-year-old boy accused the singer of molesting him. The former Jackson Five star maintained his innocence and agreed an out-of-court settlement with the teenager, but he has been dogged by controversy since.

Last year he was criticised for dangling his eight-month-old son out of a hotel window in Germany.

And he caused more controversy when he admitted to sleeping in the same room as children at Neverland.

Jackson's friend Uri Geller said tonight he was "very concerned" for the troubled pop legend in the wake of the latest allegations.

Geller said the superstar was very "naive" and became "fragile" in the face of such claims.

He told Sky News: "He [Jackson] is very gullible and he is naive, he is very childlike and I believe he is innocent.

"I as a father would not associate myself with anyone who I would even remotely suspect would have done something wrong to a child."

Asked if he knew any details of the allegations, Geller said: "I know nothing about these allegations.

"What I do know is that Michael is a very, very wealthy individual and I know that past settlements were done and were very controversial because a lot of people argued, 'Why did Michael pay up a family millions of dollars?'

"But that is Michael and I am very, very concerned now for his wellbeing because he is also very fragile.

"He becomes very fragile when such accusations are thrown at him, especially if they are not true."

Geller described the latest allegations as "earth shattering" for Jackson and said the star would be probably be thinking "not again".

"These are the worst allegations that can be thrown at a human being," he said. "It is shattering."

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