Former child star Macaulay Culkin testified Wednesday that he was never molested by Michael Jackson during boyhood visits to Mr. Jackson’s ranch and denounced the child molestation allegations against Jackson as “absolutely ridiculous.”
The 24 year old actor became part of the molestation case when prosecutors were allowed to present testimony to suggest Jackson has a pattern of abusing boys. The testimony included an ex-chef who said he saw Jackson with a hand up Culkin’s shorts as he held the boy up to a video game.On the stand, Culkin stated that he was never contacted by prosecutors and only learned of the allegations made about him when someone told him to watch CNN.
Mr. Culkin was the third young man to testify that he was never molested by Jackson during visits to his ranch as a child despite prosecution testimony to the contrary.
Culkin, appearing relaxed and confident during his less than 90 minute testimony, stated that he and Jackson were drawn together by similar experiences as child performers, although he noted laughingly that “it was not like a child actor’s self-help group.” “Anyone who was a child performer,” he said, “we keep an eye out for each other.”
Culkin also testified that he was 9 or 10 years old when he met Jackson and that he slept in Jackson’s bed several times between the ages of 10 and 14, sometimes with other boys as well. He said the sleepovers weren’t planned and that he and others would fall asleep when they were tired.
When Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen suggested he could have been molested while he was asleep, Mr. Culkin replied, “I find that unlikely,” he said, “I think I’d realize something like that was happening to me.”
Mr. Culkin also stated he and Jackson often talked about missing out on their childhoods. “It wasn’t like therapy, he said, “but we talked about how these kinds of things happen.” He also described Jackson as “very childlike.” “He liked doing the things we did. He liked playing the arcade games although he wasn’t as good as we were,” he said, drawing laughs from the court.
Prosecutors previously showing the jury sexually explicit magazines found in Mr. Jackson’s room during a November 2003 search and alleged that Jackson showed the material to his accuser and his brother. Therefore, the prosecution seized upon Culkin’s “childlike” reference to Jackson.
Zonen asked Mr. Culkin if he thought it was childlike to have such material, “When I was 12 or 13 years old I had a couple of Playboys under my bed.” Culkin replied.
Judge Allows Jackson Videotape
Judge Rodney Melville made a key decision in the Jackson case by allowing the defense to play a videotape in which Mr. Jackson spoke of his love for children. The jury heard Jackson say “They need to be held and loved and told somebody cares.”
The videotape may serve as a substitute for Jackson taking the stand. The jury also heard Mr. Jackson give a soul-searching account of his troubled childhood, answering those that call him weird and expounding further on his love for children.
The video also provided Jackson the opportunity to explain his decision to build his Neverland amusement park styled ranch and his feeling at times that he is safer with children than adults. “I haven’t been betrayed or deceived by children,” Jackson said, “Adults have let me down.”
The tape was made by Jackson’s videographer as journalist Martin Bashir made the “Living with Michael Jackson” documentary. It included large segments that did not appear in the documentary. The tape showed Bashir showering Jackson with compliments and leading him to believe the documentary would benefit him. Instead, the documentary brought a storm of criticism which eventually led to the current charges in the case.
Source: AP/eMJey