Jackson Accuser Explains Denial

The 15-year-old accuser in the Michael Jackson child molestation case told the prosecution yesterday he had denied the singer had molested him because he did not want to be made fun of at school.

Asked by district attorney Tom Sneddon why he had made the comments to Jeffrey Alpert, the dean of his school, the boy replied: "I told him that it didn't happen. All the kids were already making fun of me at the school and I didn't want anyone to think it had really happened."

His comments came at the end of a day and a half on the witness stand. The prosecution was attempting to explain what many analysts saw as testimony harmful to the prosecution case when the boy admitted to Jackson's attorney Thomas Mesereau on Monday he told a teacher nothing untoward had occurred between him and the singer.

The boy explained to Mr Sneddon that the interview with the dean had come about after the airing of the Martin Bashir documentary Living With Michael Jackson, which showed the then 13-year-old holding hands with the singer and admitting sharing a bed with him.

Following the broadcast, the boy told the jury, he had been subjected to taunts at school and got into several fights with other children who said he had been "raped" by the 46-year-old singer.

In aggressive questioning of the boy on Monday and early yesterday, Mr Mesereau attempted to depict him as an unruly child with disciplinary problems at school. He also suggested the boy, Gavin Arvizo, was motivated to bring the allegations of sexual abuse because he felt spurned after the singer severed contact.

Asked about his feelings towards the singer now, Arvizo told the district attorney: "I don't really like him anymore. I don't really think he's deserving of the respect I was giving him as the coolest guy in the world."

In further testimony on Tuesday, the boy admitted he had not wanted to leave the singer's ranch. "I liked being at Neverland. It was like Disneyland," he told Jackson's attorney, adding that his mother was the one who wanted to leave.

The admission is another blow to the prosecution, which has claimed the family was held captive by Jackson and his aides until they agreed to film a rebuttal video addressing the claims made in the Bashir documentary.