Police roughed me up, says Jackson

MICHAEL JACKSON said he suffered a dislocated shoulder when he was handcuffed during his arrest on child sex abuse charges.

“It’s hurting me very badly,” Jackson told the CBS 60 Minutes programme in an interview broadcast in the US on Sunday night.

“I’m in pain all the time.” The star denied the charges against him and said he still believes it’s acceptable to have children sleep in his bed. Jackson, 45, is charged with seven counts of performing lewd or lascivious acts upon a child under 14 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent.

After surrendering to authorities in Santa Barbara, California, on November 20, he was set free on $3 million bail.

Representatives of the Santa Barbara County sheriff’s department did not immediately return a call seeking comment today. Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon has said Jackson was treated fairly while under arrest.

The pop star said authorities sought to belittle him when he was taken into custody.

“They were supposed to go in, and just check fingerprints, and do the whole thing that they do when they take somebody in,” he said. “They manhandled me very roughly. My shoulder is dislocated, literally.”

The pain from being handcuffed behind his back “keeps me from sleeping at night”, he said.

Jackson said he was locked in a toilet for 45 minutes after he asked to use the facilities. He said the room was smelly because of faeces thrown all over.

Interview Ed Bradley pressed Jackson, a father of three, on whether he would allow his own children to sleep in a bed with a 45-year-old man and if he understood the way this appeared to others.

“People think sex,” Jackson said. “They’re thinking sex. My mind doesn’t run that way. When I see children, I see the face of God. That’s why I love them so much.”