'Jacko kissed Macaulay Culkin'
2005-04-08 12:47
California - Michael Jackson's former personal maid at Neverland, Adrian McManus told jurors on Thursday she saw the pop icon kissing three young boys as he touched their rear ends or crotches.
She identified one of those boys as Home Alone movie star Macaulay Culkin, who has denied ever being abused by Jackson, and another boy.
"I saw Mr Jackson and Macaulay by the library," she told jurors. "Mr Jackson was kissing him ... and had his hand on his leg, by his rear end." Later, she said, Jackson's hand went to the boy's behind.
McManus claimed that Culkin and three other boys would sleep over in Jackson's bedroom during their visits to the estate when she worked there in 1992 and 1993.
Legal analysts said Thursday's testimony could leave a strong impression on the jurors who will eventually decide on Jackson's fate.
'Bombshell testimony'
"It's bombshell testimony, very graphic," said Ann Bremner, a former prosecutor, commenting on the day's testimony.
"It's a great day for the prosecution," she said, adding however that "the defence did an excellent job damaging the credibility of the witnesses."
A former Neverland Ranch guard rocked Michael Jackson's child sex defence on Thursday, claiming he saw the star kissing, fondling and performing oral sex on a young boy in the 1990s.
But Jackson's lawyers launched a ferocious counter-attack on guard Ralph Chacon's credibility, painting him as a cash-strapped, disgruntled former employee who was out to extort Jackson.
In the most explosive testimony so far, Chacon told Jackson's child molestation trial he saw the abuse when he peeked through a bathroom window at the pop star's fantasy-themed estate one evening in late 1992 or early 1993.
The then 13-year-old alleged victim won a 1994 out-of-court settlement from Jackson worth more than $20m, in a deal that ensured the boy's silence and averted a criminal trial.
"I saw Mr Jackson caressing the boy's hair, he was kissing him on his head, on his face, his lips ... sucking his nipples," the former Neverland employee said in the first direct testimony of someone who claims to have seen Jackson abusing children.
Jackson then "put the little boy's penis in his mouth," Chacon said. He added that Jackson was "very passionate" and had his hands all over the boy's body.
The "King of Pop" is on trial in Santa Maria, California for allegedly molesting a different 13-year-old boy two years ago, but prosecutors have brought witnesses to five prior alleged incidents in a bid to show a pattern of child abuse.
The pop icon's mother, Katherine, left the courtroom shortly before the graphic testimony began, and fans of the embattled superstar cried as they heard the account.
- AFP