Jackson showed boy internet porn, court told
In his opening statement, District Attorney Thomas Sneddon also said Jackson showed the boy adult material on the internet from the first time he stayed at Neverland in 2000, when the boy was 10 years old.
Opening statements began after Superior Court Judge Rodney S Melville read the indictment to the jury, revealing the names of five unindicted alleged co-conspirators. All are Jackson employees.
The judge read 28 overt acts allegedly committed in a conspiracy surrounding the alleged molestation of the boy, a cancer patient, at Jackson's ranch and a purported attempt to silence his family.
Mr Sneddon referred to the boy by name after telling the court it would be impossible to proceed without using the real names of the child and his family.
Mr Sneddon told the jury the case was about Jackson's "desperate attempt" to salvage his career after the airing of the television documentary Living With Michael Jackson, in which the pop star is seen with the boy and saying he allows children to sleep in his bed.
Jackson had intended to exploit the boy by using the documentary to demonstrate how the singer helped him through his cancer, Mr Sneddon said. He said Jackson told him what to say.
"He never told the boy this video was anything other than an audition," Mr Sneddon said.
He said "Jackson's world was rocked" when the documentary aired in 2003 and backfired and Jackson's team tried to get the boy and his family to rebut it.
The prosecutor said the molestation occurred after those events, in February or March 2003, when the boy was 13. He described two incidents of molestation, including one when Jackson reached into the boy's underpants and masturbated the boy and himself.
The defence opening statement was to follow the prosecution's presentation.
The defence has cast Jackson as the target of a money-hungry mother who coached her son to spin stories when it looked like their celebrity benefactor would cut them off.
The defence will present evidence the mother has sued others in the past claiming abuse.
Jackson arrived at court to a throng of news media. There was a handful of fans outside and about a dozen in the courtroom.
Mr Sneddon said Jackson was "heavily in debt" before the making of the documentary, drawing an objection from defence attorney Thomas Mesereau Jnr.
The judge sustained the objection, saying he had not ruled on whether financial evidence would be allowed.
"Your honour, that's the motive," Mr Sneddon said.
He told jurors that the child had undergone surgeries to remove a 16-pound tumour from his stomach, and his gall bladder and his lymph nodes were also removed.
It was then, he said, that the child met Jamie Masada, who ran a comedy camp for underprivileged children.
He said the child told Mr Masada his dying wish was to meet Chris Tucker, Adam Sandler and Michael Jackson.
In August 2000 Jackson invited the boy and his family to Neverland.
During the first visit, Mr Sneddon said, Jackson told the child to ask his mother if he could sleep in Jackson's bedroom and the boy did.
That night, he said, Jackson took the boy to his bedroom, with Jackson's son Prince Michael and employee Frank Tyson.
He said Jackson showed the boys sexually explicit websites. "It lasted 45 minutes," Mr Sneddon said.
The indictment stated that between February and March 2003, Tyson, also known as Frank Cascio, threatened the accuser, telling him "Michael could make the family disappear" and "I could have your mother killed".
The indictment alleged Tyson told the family "this is not the time to be out there alone. This is not the time to turn your back on Michael".
It also alleged that in February 2003, Jackson's staff was instructed in writing not to let the boy leave Neverland.
Also named as unindicted co-conspirators were Ronald Konitzer, Dieter Wiesner, Marc Schaffel and Vincent Amen.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
