Accuser Denied Abuse to Social Worker

Irene Lavern Peters, a social worker for the Department of children and Family Services, testified Tuesday concerning an interview of Mr. Jackson’s teen-age accuser and his family. She and two other social workers interviewed the family on February 20, 2003. The accuser’s mother requested that the interview be held at Neverland, however, she was informed that Peters wanted to see where they lived. As a result, the interview was held at the home of the mother’s boyfriend A Jackson bodyguard and several other people were present at the apartment where the interviews took place, but Peters conceded that they all left before the interview began. The interview, which took place one day after the taping of the rebuttal video, began with the accuser’s mother playing a video tape of Mr. Jackson interacting with her sons. "She denied all allegations of general neglect," Peters said. "I asked her about the relationship with Michael Jackson. She went on to say he was like a father to her children and she felt he was responsible for helping (the boy) to survive his cancer, for his cancer to go into remission.” "I asked her if the kids ever slept in Michael Jackson's room and she said no, that never happened." Despite allegations by the prosecution that the family was coerced, Peters testified that the children "all seemed to be in agreement with their mom,” adding that the family seemed happy and well-adjusted and "they all seemed spontaneous in their comments”. The accuser and his siblings who were interviewed separately, described Mr. Jackson as a “father figure”. When asked if “he had been touched inappropriately by Michael Jackson”, the accuser answered “no”, and seemed to be quite upset by the question. He then told her about how his schoolmates had been taunting him because he was seen holding hands with Mr. Jackson in the Bashir documentary “Living with Michael Jackson”. During the interview the accuser’s mother expressed that she was not pleased with Bashir filming her children without her consent. Peters testified that the mother told her that "Michael wanted to send them to Brazil and she didn't want to go." Peters said the mother referred to Brazil as "that dump." A travel agent has testified that she arranged a March 1, 2003, flight but the trip was abruptly canceled. Peters told the jury that the family never complained about being held against their will. Even after bumping into the family two months after the interview at a hamburger stand, they all seemed fine. Simone Jackson, a 16 year old cousin of Mr. Jackson testified Tuesday that as she sat in the corner of the large Neverland Ranch kitchen area playing a video game, the accuser and his brother entered and took a bottle of wine. "They didn't see me, I was sitting off to the side," Simone Jackson said, speaking softly from the witness stand. "They grabbed it and (the accuser's brother) got a wine glass and (the accuser) just took the bottle." When the boys then saw her, she said, "I told them they weren't supposed to do that, and they told me not to say anything." Also in court Tuesday, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville refused to reverse a decision he made to limit the testimony of Angel Vivanco, a former chef's assistant at Neverland who, the defense claims, developed a relationship with the accuser's sister. Sources: AP/CNN/eMJey