Here is this afternoon's early update:
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Posted on Wed, Nov. 19, 2003
Sources: Boy's allegations sparked raid
By JOHN F. MORRISON
morrisj@phillynews.com
'IT'S A BEAUTIFUL thing," Michael Jackson once said.
Cuddling in bed with young boys, he meant.
Nothing perverted about it. Never mind that he was said to have settled for millions of dollars a 1993 lawsuit by a 13-year-old California boy who described in graphic detail sexual encounters with the superstar.
The 45-year-old man has just never grown up, say friends and advisers.
Now the boy-man might be in real trouble.
Investigators swarmed over his amusement-park-like Neverland Ranch near Santa Barbara, Calif., yesterday, searching for evidence in a possible criminal case.
They even brought along a portable toilet, indicating they intended to stay a while.
Sources said the raid was the result of allegations brought against Jackson by a 12-year-old Los Angeles boy.
A source told the TV program "Extra!" that the boy recently approached a Los Angeles law firm and claimed inappropriate conduct by the superstar.
L.A. lawyer Larry R. Feldman, who represented the 14-year-old in the 1993 suit against Jackson, said he could not "confirm or deny" that he was representing anyone in a similar action.
Chris Pappas, of the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office, would say only that the raid had been part of an "ongoing criminal investigation."
Sixty to 70 officers from the Santa Barbara County D.A.'s and sheriff's offices arrived in what was described as a "convoy" about 8:30 a.m. PST.
With them came a forensics- lab van and an ambulance. The ambulance left shortly thereafter, unoccupied.
Detectives were expected to be gathering evidence into the night. The district attorney and sheriff planned to provide more details today.
Neither Jackson nor his three young children were home at the time of the search. Jackson has been in Las Vegas for three weeks making a video.
His spokesman, Stuart Backerman, said he could not comment on the raid because he lacked information about it.
"We're unaware of what the substance of this matter is," Backerman told CNN. He said the raid came as a complete surprise.
Jackson denounced media coverage of the spectacle in a statement Backerman released to the Associated Press:
"I've seen lawyers who don't represent me and spokespeople who do not know me speaking for me. These characters always seem to surface with dreadful allegations just as another project, an album, a video, is being released."
Epic Records yesterday released "Number Ones," a greatest-hits collection featuring Jackson's new single, "One More Chance."
Whether the talented singer-songwriter-dancer will get one more chance is debatable. His career already has been foundering since revelations of his proclivity for boys was dissected in the media.
In Las Vegas, a Jackson family spokesman briefly talked with reporters outside a recording studio.
"The family stands behind Michael," spokesman Steve Manning said. "He's holding up."
Rabbi Shumley Boteach, Jackson's spiritual adviser, said he had counseled the entertainer to behave more responsibly.
"I have sent him many messages," the rabbi told Fox News. "We're not just talking about the fall of a business. We're talking about the fall of a human being.
"He's not a child; he's an adult, and he has to accept" the consequences of his actions, Boteach said.
Jackson has made no secret of his fondness for boys but has vigorously denied having had any sexual contact with them.
He said in a British TV interview in February that he enjoyed snuggling in bed with 12- and 13-year-olds.
"Why can't you share a bed?" he asked. "The most loving thing to do is to share your bed with someone. It's a beautiful thing. It's very right; it's very loving. Because what's wrong with sharing a love?"
Among his bed partners have been the Culkin brothers, Macaulay (of "Home Alone" fame), and Kieran, also an actor.
"When you say 'bed,' you're thinking sexual," Jackson said during the February interview. "It's not sexual. We're going to sleep. I tuck them in and I put a little music on, and when it's story time, I read a book.
"We go to sleep with the fire on and I give them hot milk and cookies. It's very charming and very sweet.
"I am Peter Pan. He represents youth, childhood, never growing up, magic, flying."
Jackson once said he was so fond of children that he would kill himself if there were no kids in the world.
His ranch, situated in the Santa Ynez Valley outside Santa Barbara, is itself a playland for kids, containing a Ferris wheel, amusement rides and other fun things for children.
But Jackson caused an outcry last November by dangling his youngest child, Prince Michael II, whom he reportedly calls "Blanket," from a hotel window in Germany.
The child's face was covered with a towel. In public, Jackson has each of his three children covered in masks or veils.
Magician Uri Geller, a friend of Jackson's who used to bend spoons for a living, told Fox News that if the allegations against Jackson were of a sexual nature, he couldn't believe they were true.
"I'm a father myself and I would never associate myself with anyone who would do anything with a child," Geller said.
He described Jackson as "gullible, innocent, maybe a little confused...but I would never believe he would sexually abuse a child."
Famed lawyer Johnnie Cochran represented Jackson in the 1993 case and said at the time of the settlement a year later that it was in no way an admission of guilt.
Another controversial issue involving Jackson is his connection with Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano, who began serving a federal prison sentence Monday for possessing illegal explosives.
Pellicano, 59, worked for Jackson as a spokesman and security consultant during the 1993 case.
The private eye is also being investigated about whether he secretly taped conversations of celebrities and their lawyers.
Jackson's new song, "One More Chance," has been available at radio stations for the past few weeks, but has gotten scant airplay. It has peaked Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart at No. 45.
The song was written by R. Kelly, who himself is charged in Chicago with 21 counts of child pornography.
Jackson's last studio album, "Invincible," sold about 2 million copies in the United States - great for most artists, especially veteran stars, but only so-so for the man who bills himself as the "King of Pop."
An upcoming CBS special might boost sales of the new album. A representative for the network refused to speculate whether it would shelve the special due to the new developments.
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As I type this, he is said to be "in Vegas negotiating his surrender"
(CNN)