Re: [OT] Michael Jackson

> Now, what he has admitted... regarding that children sleep in his bed w/o
> sexual contact... is still downright crminal by itself,

Why?  As long as there is no sexual contact, why is it criminal?  Does a
child sleeping with his/her parents after a scary dream mean that the
parents have done something criminal?

> isn't he innocent until proven guilty in our society?

Sadly, no.  The media and its shark-like frenzy whenever they smell blood
has pretty much taken care of that.  Even if by some chance Jackson is found
to be innocent of wrongdoing in court, the media will be right there to
remind us that he's been accused of it twice, so that the idea that he is
guilty of it will be firmly planted in everyone's minds and his career will
be essentially over.

>Also how can the prosecutor demand his children be taken away if he's
currently innocent?

There are several reasons for this.  One, if Jackson really is guilty of
molesting children, then it is imperative that his children be removed from
his care so that he won't be able to molest them.  After all, if he'd molest
other people's children, why not his own?  And even if that hasn't been
proven yet, most people would agree that the mere chance it could be true is
reason to get his kids away from him rather than put them at risk.  There is
also the fact that if he is found guilty, he'll be in jail, and won't be
able to care for the kids anymore anyway...so in that respect, it might be
better to get the trauma of the separation over with now rather than later.

Personally, I find myself skeptical about this.  It seems to me that if the
allegations were true, it wouldn't be just one or two kids getting the
abuse...it'd be every kid Jackson could get his hands on.  So we wouldn't be
getting this in measly drips and drops of one kid at a time, ten years
apart...there'd be many more kids coming forward with the same story.

However, the fact that this is the second time this has happened points to a
disturbing trend.  I find that I do have to start wondering if maybe there
isn't some truth to it, that maybe Jackson has stepped out of line.  I would
say that if the allegations are once more untrue, then Michael has some
serious work to do in trying to find out how and why this keeps coming up
and preventing it from coming up again.  If that means no more sleepovers
with kids, then no matter how innocent Michael thinks it is, it simply has
to stop.

I'd like to be in Michael's corner for this one.  I've been a fan of his
music for years, and I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt here.
But over the years I've seen his behaviour become weirder and weirder, and
misgivings are starting to creep in.  I wish him luck in his legal battle,
and if he does emerge triumphant again, I would urge him to take a long,
hard look at his public image and start doing some drastic damage control.

David Peattie