The Michael Jackson Child Molestation Trial Finally Begins

Monday’s opening statements in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial painted distinctly different pictures of the pop singer to the jury. Jackson is accused of molesting a 13-year-old former cancer patient, giving him alcohol, and attempting to hold him and his family captive. He has denied all the allegations against him.

In the prosecution’s opening statement, Santa Barbara District Attorney Tom Sneddon described the boy as a victim of the pop star's methodical attempts to corrupt him. In his portrait of Michael Jackson as a sexual predator, Sneddon said that Jackson would seek out children who have no father, seeking to establish a paternal relationship with them, asking them to call him "Daddy" or "Michael Daddy." After meeting the boy, Jackson established a close relationship with him, sometimes spending hours on the telephone with him, then inviting him and his family to his Neverland ranch outside Los Angeles. Sneddon delivered a broad-brush depiction of the events that allegedly took place at Jackson’s ranch, including Jackson showing pornography to children, plying them with alcohol, and engaging in intimate sexual acts.

Describing the aftermath of the 2003 television documentary in which Jackson spoke frankly about having children sleep in the same bed with him, Sneddon said, "The defendant's world was rocked. It didn't rock in a musical sense, but in a real-world sense. Rocked so badly, as described by Marc Shaffel (a friend of Jackson), that it was like a train wreck." For the first time in court, Sneddon identified Jackson’s accuser, now a 15-year-old high school freshman, by name. Sneddon said that after the video aired, Jackson realized that the family of the boy was a "dangerous loose end" and it was "very, very difficult" to control the boy’s mother, but the family eventually agreed to contribute to a second video in which they declared that Jackson had not done anything improper. However, Sneddon said, Jackson obtained their cooperation through extortion, and the mother was told that her child would not be returned to her unless she agreed to participate.

When it came time for the defense team’s opening statements, an attorney for Jackson claimed that his client’s accuser has simply gone to great lengths to use her son to ply money from a famous celebrity who is extremely wealthy. Claiming that the boy’s mother has a long history of using her son’s illness to extort money from celebrities, Jackson’s lawyer said that all of the allegations against his client are part of an elaborate bribery scheme concocted by liars, and are far from the truth. Defense attorneys are expected to ask the judge to allow the jurors to be taken to the Neverland ranch.

No matter what the conclusion is to this high-profile case, there is no doubt that The King of Pop has become The King of Schlock. Monday’s opening ceremonies in the courtroom marked the beginning of what will surely be an entertaining procession of witnesses providing emotional and disturbing testimony. The media feeding frenzy alone will be entertainment enough, as they all compete to keep the public apprised of every minute detail. If Michael Jackson thought his documentary video was a train wreck, then he’d better steel himself for now for a nuclear explosion.