Michael Jackson‘s family has publicly deniedthe explosive allegations of child sexual abuse surfacedin the bombshell HBO documentaryLeaving Neverland.
But back in 1993, the late singer’s sisterLaToya Jacksonwas doing just the opposite,alleging in a press conferencethat her brother had committed “crimes against small innocent children.”
At the time they were made, LaToya was estranged from her family while Michael was facing accusations of molesting 13-year-old Jordan Chandler. Though Jackson denied the accusations, the case was eventually settled out of court for over $20 million. Police were also investigating various allegations from three other boys, though criminal charges were never filed.
Still, LaToya appeared to believe the claims were true, claiming her mother had shown her hush-money payments in “very very large amounts” made to the youngster’s families.
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LaToya, now 62, said she was speaking out because she could no longer be a “silent collaborator” in his actions.
“If I remain silent, then that means that I feel the guilt and the humiliation that these children are feeling, and I think it’s very wrong,” she said at the time.
The star went on to criticize her brother for spending time behind closed doors with his alleged victims.
“You stop and think for one second and you tell me, what 35-year-old man is going to take a little boy and stay with him for 30 days? And take another boy and stay with him for five days in a room and never leave the room?” she asked. “How many of you out there are 35 years old? How many men are out there? How many would take little kids and do that? That are 9, 10, 11 years old? I love my brother but it’s wrong. I don’t want to see these kids hurt.”
Elsewhere in her press conference, LaToya spoke out about her own sexual molestation, allegedly at the hands of her father, Joe Jackson.
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Leaving Neverlandchronicled allegations from two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who both claim Jackson befriended them when they were children and that their relationships quickly turned sexual.
Safechuck, who met Jackson when he was cast in the star’s 1986 Pepsi commercial, claims Jackson taught him how to masturbate, while Robson, who met Jackson when he was just 5 years old, says the star performed oral sex on him and kissed him.
Michael Jackson.Michael Ochs Archive/Getty
Jackson’s family has repeatedly denied all allegations put forth inLeaving Neverland, and said in a January statement the film was “another rehash of dated and discredited allegations,” calling it “yet another lurid production in an outrageous and pathetic attempt to exploit and cash in on Michael Jackson.”
source: people.com
