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loudTopic: Prosecutor Press Release
Mon Sep 13, 5:20 PM ET By Josh Grossberg
For those following the soap opera that is Michael Jackson (news)'s child molestation case, here's another thriller for you?new revelations about his 1993 molestation probe.
The boy who accused the popster of sexually assaulting him more than a decade ago still refers to Jackson as "the Devil in God's clothes," according to his uncle.
In an exclusive interview with NBC's Dateline to promote his new tell-all tome, All That Glitters: The Crime and the Cover-up, Ray Chandler disclosed details about the Gloved One's alleged seduction of his nephew, including why the family refused to bring molestation charges and opted for a multimillion-dollar payout.
The uncle, who had no part of the estimated $20 million settlement, played audiotapes he made with the boy's father that paint a disturbing portrait of Jackson at the time of the scandal.
In the recordings, made by Chandler with his older brother's knowledge and made available to Dateline's producers, the father is heard expressing sympathy for the then 35-year-old King of Pop, believing the relationship he struck up with his 13-year-old son in the fall of 1992 was strictly platonic.
"He's childlike. He's a child. Nothing to fear," the father said on one tape. "You put that together with the way he looks...and you feel sorry for him, okay. And you know that he--this tells you that he grew up an intensely lonely person."
According to Dateline, the pair began spending more time together.
Jackson invited the boy to sleep over at his Neverland Ranch and the entertainer, in turn, would spend the night in the boy's bedroom at the suburban home where he lived with his mother. That was in addition to showering both mother and child with expensive gifts and sending them abroad on lavish all-expenses paid vacations.
The uncle said his brother realized the singer might have had other intentions after one day finding his son cuddling with Jackson in his bed with the star's hand resting above the sheets atop the boy's groin area.
Terrified and angry because he hadn't put a halt to their relationship, the father went to court to try and gain custody of the child from his ex-wife. It was during that legal skirmish that the boy reportedly admitted to his father that Jackson sexually abused him--including kissing, fondling, masturbation and oral sex--and warned him not to speak about it or the police would send him to jail.
The father eventually confronted the Moonwalker at a Los Angeles hotel, with the boy present in the room, but Jackson denied the molestation allegations. In another recording, the father described how his son's body language and Jackson's blase indifference belied those denials.
"[My son] was not different than a little fawn out in the woods at night that gets caught in the headlights," said the father. "You could see the fear in the eyes. Anybody could see that."
In the end, however, the boy's father didn't go to the police, because he feared the publicity that would envelop them should the allegations be made public. Instead, the boy ended up coming clean about the alleged abuse to a psychiatrist, who promptly notified the authorities, per California law.
Ultimately, Chandler said Jackson's superstar status blinded the parents to the point where they absconded from their parental responsibilities--while Jackson's own child-like demeanor helped him cover up any alleged misconduct.
The uncle told Dateline that the family did their best to bring charges against Jackson, but decided to drop the probe and agree to a multimillion-dollar settlement once it was clear authorities would not protect their anonymity.
Earlier this month, Dateline also reported that Jackson paid more than $2 million to the son of a onetime employee around the same time he settled with Chandler's nephew.
The music legend's camp declined to comment on the report.
At the time of the settlement, however, Jackson proclaimed his innocence and the rest was HIStory--at least until the latest allegations of child molestation surfaced against him.
As for his alleged victim, the unidentified boy is now 24 and has undergone extensive therapy. He recently graduated college and is dating.
As for Cahndler, he's no longer close with his brother because of an unrelated family rift. But he said he wrote the self-published book not to cash in but to get the facts about Michael out in the open as he sees them.
All That Glitters: The Crime and the Cover-Up is scheduled to hit bookstores on Tuesday.