Why would a mom allow her son to become Michael Jackson’s bedmate? That’s the million dollar question — and neither the prosecution nor defense asked the mother of Jackson's 1993 accuser. For clues, look to the testimony of the mother in court on Monday. The story below is all drawn from her testimony. The sidebar photos? Colorful guys who hang out here at the courthouse.
Mother and son met Michael Jackson back in the summer of ‘92 at Rent-a-Wreck in West Los Angeles, which her ex-husband owned at that time. (Jackson's car had broken down. He needed wheels.) The woman's son was 12 then, a big Jackson fan. He owned a sparkly jacket and glove, loved to do Jackson’s dance routines, and after a 10-minute chat she gave her phone number to Jackson — just in case Jackson might want to see or talk to her son again.
And Jackson did, a few weeks later. Phone calls at first, longer each time, then three trips to Neverland. Each time he was on the ranch, the boy slept with his mother in Jackson’s luxurious guest quarters, once graced by Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando. On one visit, Jackson arranged for an after-hours opening of the local Toys-R-Us and let the kids take home whatever their hearts desired.
Then to The Mirage in Las Vegas where Jackson apparently snapped under the pressure of sleeping alone. He sobbed, shook, and pleaded for the woman to let him sleep with her boy.
“You don’t trust me. Why not allow him to be with me? We’re family! There’s nothing wrong, nothing going on,” the mother quoted Jackson as saying in a teary lament she says lasted from 20 to 40 minutes.
She passed on his pleas at first, saying, “I’ve had two husbands I can’t trust, I think you're a wonderful person, but I can’t let down my trust.” She said Jackson “just wanted a family, just wanted to be treated like a regular person.” 
Why she did it is still a mystery, but the woman agreed and she sleepovers began in Vegas, then moved under her roof in Santa Monica for more than a month when Jackson basically commuted to this woman’s home for weeks, arriving in the afternoon after her son had gone to school, leaving the next morning.
There were lavish gifts for the mother once she’d turned over her son to the King of Pop: Cartier jewelry, a $7-thousand dollar gift certificate from posh L.A. boutique Fred Segal, the use of Jackson’s credit cards for shopping sprees, a trip to Europe.
Then more bunking in together at Neverland — the boy going by himself sometimes — sometimes with the mom who said she’d take his suitcase straight to MJ’s bedroom. Jackson flew the family to Orlando (where they visited Disney World), to Paris (where they visited Euro Disney) and to Monaco where Jackson was honored at the World Music Awards in May, 1993.
The boy sat on Jackson’s lap in the front row at the awards ceremony, right next to HRH Prince Albert of Monaco. This, to the horror of then-Jackson publicist Bob Jones who understood, as he said in court, that “perception is more than 90% of what people think.”
In Monaco, Jackson and the boy were said to have both come down with the flu. They barricaded themselves into Jackson’s hotel bedroom and stayed incommunicado for two days. The boy’s mom says she wasn’t allowed in the room. In the lawsuit that followed, the boy said Jackson engaged in oral sex there, but he’s refused to testify and the jury isn’t going to hear that beat in this story.
Jackson just shook his head from side to side as the woman testified. She’s petite, attractive, and she was credible. The jury took a lot of notes.
The boy got an estimated 20-million dollar settlement from Jackson in the 1990s. The mother personally received 1.5 million dollars, but she hasn’t spoken to her son in 11 years — the tragic punctuation mark on this tale. She never says she witnessed any molestation, not that a mother would.
Tom Mesereau contends her second ex-hubby sued Jackson for interfering in his business. The mom couldn’t remember. There was talk of her ex wanting Jackson to pay for a new wing on his house, and he supposedly said the boy could be “set up for life” thanks to Jackson.
Mesereau implied that the boy's family wanted a $4 million loan because they were $5 million in debt. And there was the implication that Jackson counter-sued the family before paying off — supposedly to protect his deals with Sony and Pepsi. That Pepsi deal was then the biggest endorsement deal in history.
Jackson’s publicist also testified Monday. And yes, he’s writing a tell-all book that includes the story of the plane ride back from Monaco where the boy was cuddled up in Jackson’s arms. Jackson described as cooing — giving the boy pecks on the cheek, and licks on the top of his head.
As court ended, the prosecution announced it’s ready to bring the mother of Jackson’s stand. A tale of two moms. Perfect emotional testimony to wrap up the prosecution’s case.
Why wasn't this Mother accused of Child endangerment, consenting to a grown man sleeping with her teenage son??? She certainly has some liability here as well. Maybe this is the reason the son no longer has anything to do with her....feeling he had not be kept safe!
Posted by: Joy | Monday, April 18, 2005 at 11:21 AM