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Stepfather testifies against Jackson
Associated Press
Published April 13, 2005
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The stepfather of Michael Jackson's accuser testified Tuesday that after the broadcast of a damaging TV documentary about Jackson, an associate of the pop star offered the family a college education and a house.
But the stepfather said when he sought money for the family, he was accused of blackmail.
The prosecution shifted from witnesses who alleged past improprieties by Jackson back to current allegations that the singer molested a 13-year-old boy in February or March 2003, gave him alcohol and conspired to hold his family captive to get them to rebut the documentary.
In the 2003 documentary Living With Michael Jackson , Jackson and the boy appeared on camera, and Jackson said he let children sleep in his bed but characterized it as innocent.
Part of the stepfather's testimony dealt with the period leading up to Feb. 19-20, 2003, when the boy, his brother, sister and mother made a rebuttal video.
The stepfather testified he asked Jackson associate Frank Tyson what monetary compensation the family would get for participating in the video.
The stepfather said Tyson "said he was going to offer a college education and a house."
The stepfather also described the mother saying "she was not able to see her children, that when she went off Neverland she had a chaperone."
[Last modified April 13, 2005, 01:31:06]
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