Michael Jackson

[OnyxCougar]

Excerpt from Yahoo Story
Meanwhile, more details are emerging about the 12-year-old alleged victim.

Even as Santa Barbara officials have kept the boy's identity secret, most outlets have identified him as a recovering cancer patient seen on TV last February during Martin Bashir's controversial documentary about the eccentric celebrity.

At the time, the boy's mother defended Jackson's slumber-party practices but reportedly changed her mind after the documentary aired and the superstar's reps secured passports to send her and the family to Latin America--a move she saw as a cover-up.

What the mother did or didn't know about Jackson's alleged advances on her son are in dispute.

A divorce attorney who claims to have represented the mother of Jackson's accuser in 2001 said the family never mentioned the abuse. Michael Manning told the Associated Press the mother had nothing but positive things to say about the singer as recently as April or May.

" 'He was really good to us,' that's what she said at the time," recalled Manning. "Nothing badIf it turned sour, I don't know how." The attorney, who still represents the mother in the divorce, said he has not spoken to her since May or June.

On the flipside, a Hollywood comedy-club owner who introduced the "Thriller" singer to the cancer-stricken boy told Extra he realized there was a problem when he received an irate phone call from the boy's mother a few months ago saying "something happened."

Laugh Factor owner Jamie Masada, who refused to reveal exactly what the woman had said, befriended the boy and his family when a social worker referred them to a summer camp Masada runs for underprivileged kids.

"I feel really guilty because I was the person who brought them together," he told Extra. "What would you do if you see a kid [who has] three to four weeks to live and his wish is to meet Michael?"



Meanwhile, New York's Daily News has unearthed court records that show Jackson's accuser allegedly tried to steal clothes from a California store on orders from his father when he was just eight.

Mother and son were arrested and charged with burglary after security guards nabbed the pair with the hot goods in the parking lot. Guards wound up scuffling with the boy and his parents, who later sued, claiming the young boy had suffered a "sprained arm, nightmares and emotional distress."

As part of the settlement, charges against the family were dropped and they collected more than $200,000 for their court claims.

Dad, who has blasted his ex-wife as irresponsible in the press, is a piece of work. In 2001, he pleaded no contest to a charge of wife beating and was sentenced to attend domestic-violence counseling, per a report in Newsweek. The following year, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of willful cruelty to a child in an incident involving his older daughter.

He's currently seeking custody of the three children, which includes a younger brother.

During his press conference Tuesday, Geragos again claimed the allegations were part of a scheme to get money from Jackson, who a decade ago reportedly paid between $15 million and $20 million to a child accuser to drop a civil sexual assault suit against the singer.