Jackson abused teen cancer boy, jury told

SANTA MARIA, California - Pop superstar Michael Jackson sexually abused a teen-age cancer patient at his Neverland Valley Ranch first by showing him pornography and later by masturbating him, a prosecutor said on Monday.

The boy "will describe for you his sexual experiences with Michael Jackson, here in court with the whole world watching," Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon said in his opening statement at Jackson's child molestation trial.

"The private world of Michael Jackson, instead of bedtime books and discussions of Peter Pan... he's talking to them about masturbation," Sneddon told the jury.

The prosecutor named Jackson's now 15-year-old accuser and his family in open court, saying that was necessary in order to present the evidence against the 46-year-old singer.

The prosecutor said that the brother of the accuser saw Jackson masturbating the then-13-year-old boy.

Jackson and his accuser were seen by the brother lying together at the singer's Neverland estate. One of the singer's hands was inside his own underwear and the other was inside the boy's underwear, Sneddon said.

Jackson is charged with molesting the boy, who had been told by his doctors he was dying, at the singer's Neverland Valley Ranch in the foothills of the central California coast above Santa Maria.

He is also accused of plying the boy with wine disguised in soda cans in order to seduce him, and conspiring to commit child abduction, extortion and false imprisonment.

Jackson has pleaded innocent. If convicted of all 10 charges, he faces nearly 20 years in jail. Defence lawyers are expected to tell jurors that Jackson was framed by the money-hungry mother of his accuser.

Jackson arrived at court on Monday wearing a dark suit with a red armband and flanked by his mother and brother Jermaine. More than 40 fans got seats in the packed courtroom on the first full day of what is expected to be a bitter six-month trial.

The trial will offer a rare glimpse into Jackson's bizarre lifestyle and potential testimony by celebrities including basketball star Kobe Bryant and actress Elizabeth Taylor.

Sneddon said Jackson's accuser had been told by his doctors to "prepare for his funeral" after undergoing surgery to remove a tumour from his abdomen, along with his gall bladder and kidney.

He was later granted his wish to meet Jackson, one of his idols, and was invited to spend the night at Neverland. The first visit was in August 2000.

Sneddon said that while there, Jackson showed the boy pornographic magazines and websites and exposed him to "strange sexual behavior."

Later, the early 2003 broadcast of a British television documentary made by journalist Martin Bashir, in which Jackson defended his practice of sharing his bed with boys, created a public-relations nightmare for the singer.

It was then that Jackson concocted a conspiracy to imprison the boy and his family at Neverland, to pressure him against speaking out, and began molesting the boy, Sneddon said. He said the boy would testify he was molested by Jackson on two separate occasions.

"The Bashir documentary was like a moving landslide and if it wasn't stopped it would destroy everything in its path including Michael Jackson," said Sneddon.

"This case is about a conspiracy, it's about the train wreck caused by the Bashir documentary. This is also a case of Michael Jackson's exploitation of a 13-year-old boy, a cancer survivor," he added.

Jackson's lawyers will present their opening statement after the prosecution finishes it initial remarks.

Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville has not yet decided if prosecutors can present evidence during the trial about sexual abuse allegations against Jackson in the mid-1990s which resulted in a multimillion dollar out of court settlement.

- REUTERS