Esto es de E! entretainmente, no confio mucho en los canales de chismes pero dice algunas coasas interesantes...Sorry que no lo traduci pero quiero seguir viendo mas noticias...
Jackson Targeted in Criminal Probe
by Josh Grossberg
Nov 18, 2003, 2:45 PM PT
Michael Jackson is at the center of a potentially blockbuster new legal thriller.
A small army of police investigators descended on the popster's sprawling Neverland Ranch Tuesday morning as part of an unspecified criminal probe, Santa Barbara County officials confirmed.
About two-dozen officers accompanied by dog teams showed up at Neverland at 8:30 a.m. to serve a search warrant, Sgt. Chris Pappas of the county sheriff's office said. He said the raid was part of an "ongoing criminal investigation," but declined to go into specifics.
Whatever the reason for the search, it was important enough to bring county D.A. Thomas Sneddon down to the property to monitor the search.
Jackson's publicist, Stuart Backerman, said, "we cannot comment on law enforcement's investigation because we do not yet know what it is about."
Backerman did confirm that the 45-year-old Jackson and his three young children were in Las Vegas, where the "Dangerous" singer was filming a video for an upcoming CBS special, and was not present when the warrant was served.
"Michael will, as always, cooperate fully with authorities in any investigation even as it is conducted, yet again, while he is not home," Backerman added.
While authorities have been mum on details--they're expected to divulge more at a press conference Wednesday morning--there have been reports linking the investigation to a familiar Jackson bugaboo: allegations of child abuse.
Both Court TV and syndicated TV show Extra are saying the probe was launched after a 12-year-old boy told a Los Angeles law firm about inappropriate behavior by Jackson. The allegations were reportedly forwarded to the Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office for further review, which in turn led to today's raid.
"A rogue's gallery of hucksters and self-styled 'inside sources' have dominated the airwaves since reports of a search of Neverland broke, speculating, guessing and fabricating information about an investigation they couldn't possibly know about," Backerman said.
In a statement issued by Backerman, Jackson is quoted as saying, "These characters always seem to surface with a dreadful allegation just as another project, an album, a video, is being released."
Indeed, the search warrant was executed the same day as Jackson's new greatest-hits album, Number Ones, hit shelves.
"The timing of these events are suspicious," reiterated Brian Oxman, a Jackson family attorney. "Michael has 24-hour-a-day attendants who track his movements. We view these allegations as another attempt at gaining money from Michael."
Tuesday's raid resurrects memories of the sexual-molestation allegations 10 years ago that nearly destroyed his career and have dogged him ever since.
A 13-year-old boy said he was enticed into Jackson's bed at Neverland and subjected to unwanted sexual contact. Jackson proclaimed his innocence and no criminal charges were ever brought in the case. The matter came to a close when the erstwhile King of Pop paid the boy's family a multimillion-dollar settlement.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer came under new scrutiny in February, when he admitted during an ABC television documentary that he often sleeps in the same bed with young guests to his ranch.
"When you say bed, you're thinking sexual," the entertainer said at the time. "It's not sexual, we're going to sleep. I tuck them in...it's very charming, it's very sweet."
Jackson also was blasted by child-rights advocates last year, when he briefly dangled his youngest (whom he calls Blanket) off a balcony in Germany.
Jackson has been involved in nearly 1,000 lawsuits over the course of his off-the-wall career and the seemingly endless legal fees have chipped away at his half-billion-dollar fortune. In recent months he was ordered to pay a promoter $5.3 million over scuttled millennium concerts; reached a settlement with a former financial adviser who claimed Jackson owed $12 million in unpaid fees; and struck a deal with Sotheby's for non-payment for two paintings.
Word of the criminal investigation comes just days after his father, Joe Jackson, admitted in a BBC interview that he used to whip his son.
The news also arrives as Jackson once again tries to re-energize his foundering career. Aside from Number Ones (which is likely his final album for Sony's Epic Records), he recently released his long-delayed all-star 9/11 charity anthem, "What More Can I Give?"
And, as of Tuesday afternoon, CBS still planned to go forward with its Jackson sweeps special, scheduled to air November 26. It will feature old concert footage, along with a performance of Jackson's new collaboration with R. Kelly, "One More Chance," from Number Ones.