Jackson won’t face child abuse probe

POP superstar Michael Jackson will not face a new probe into allegations of child abuse despite TV documentary admissions that he shares his bedroom with children, prosecutors said yesterday.

A US child protection charity had called for the singer to be investigated after he told interviewer Martin Bashir that youngsters sleep over with him at his Neverland ranch.

But Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon said under Californian law, merely sleeping with a child without “affirmative, offensive conduct” was not a criminal offence.

Police would require co-operation from a victim before any charges could be brought, he said.

Mr Sneddon said a high-profile 1993 investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against the singer involving a 13-year-old boy remained “open, but inactive.”

Jackson was never charged, but later reached a multi-million-dollar out-of-court settlement with the boy’s family.

The 44-year-old singer said in the documentary, Life With Michael Jackson, that he had slept in a bed with “many children“, including actor Macaulay Culkin and his brother Kieran.

“It’s not sexual. We’re going to sleep. I tuck them in,” he said. “It’s very charming. It’s very sweet.”

But Gloria Gruber, president of Prevent Child Abuse California, called for state authorities to interview the children with whom he had shared his bed.